McFarlin

Two 'McFarlin' stories August 2012

Report: ‘Kenny the Clown’ used Steve Jobs’ stolen 64GB iPad in clown routine

<em>Kenny the Clown</em>

Mercury News’ Mike Rosenberg caught up with the clown who had Steve Jobs’ 64GB stolen iPad.

Literally–he’s a professional clown. Kenneth Kahn, 47, received the iPad, which Mercury News noted as being “silver,” from 35-year-old Kariem McFarlin. He met McFarlin roughly a decade ago when he coached him on a basketball team in Alameda, Calif. Kahn thought he was getting an “old device McFarlin wanted to get rid of” and believed his friend bought a newer-version.

Kahn, who is known as “Kenny the Clown” by day, only used the illustrious tablet to play a “Pink Panther” theme song and Michael Jackson during a clown act.

He had no idea the device came from the fabled Jobs residence until after the friend who gave him the gadget was charged with breaking into the CEO’s Palo Alto home. By then, the cops had already shown up at his door and taken it away.
“It would be like getting a football from Joe Montana that was stolen out of his house,” said the 47-year-old professional clown, whose real name is Kenneth Kahn. “It’s bizarre; it’s really bizarre.”

<em>Kenneth Kahn</em>

McFarlin, an Alameda resident with only a misdemeanor charge on his record for driving without a license in 1999, stole the iPad from Jobs’ Waverley Street home on July 17. He allegedly gave another iPad to his daughter, according to police, but both devices were returned to Jobs’ family upon McFarlin’s arrest on Aug. 2. McFarlin immediately admitted the crime and waited in jail Thursday in lieu of $500,000 bail.

“Before the public sees him as this horrible monster, I’d like to hopefully think we can somehow get across that he just made the worst mistake of his life,” Kahn said to Mercury News. “It still hasn’t really 100 percent set in for me. It was Steve Jobs’ iPad — literally. If this thing weren’t so tragic, it would be comical.”

Get the full report at Mercury News.

Steve Jobs personal items including his wallet (with his yearly salary in it!), 2 iMacs and 3 iPads returned after theft

We told you earlier about the burglary at Steve Jobs’ home this past month. The Daily reports on the items missing and the suspect.

Wearing work gloves, McFarlin set down lawn furniture cushions outside the perimeter of the home in order to safely toss his take including: two iMacs, three iPads, one Apple TV, a Sodastream soda maker and various Tiffany jewels before fleeing away in his car.

The jewelry McFarlin lifted was the bulk of the heist’s value, totaling nearly all of the $60,000 in value. Jobs’ wallet, including credit cards and $1 (his famous yearly salary), was also part of the heist. Laurene Powell Jobs was staying nearby while the renovations were being done.

The suspect, McFarlin, did not seem to realize he was in Jobs’ home. McFarlin said he was in dire straits with money and “he was desperate.”

McFarlin told cops that he had been living in his car and had chanced upon the abandoned Jobs home while sleeping on the street there. He decided it would be the target of his first burglary. Before the heat was on, the novice McFarlin quickly Googled how to fence the jewelry.

He was caught when trying to plug in the Apple equipment and the devices “called home” for software updates.
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