Following the report that an Apple employee lost one of the company's prototype iPhone 5 handsets a couple of months ago, there has been some confusion over the role of the San Francisco Police Department in the affair.

Some reports suggested that although no formal complaint was filed with the police, when Apple staff visited the home where they had tracked the phone to, they were accompanied by police officers.

This had raised some queries as to how the police could have been there if the police had themselves no record of the complaint, and there has been some speculation that the "police" were not in fact police, but just said they were. That would have been a crime.

In a statement that clears up the issue, the San Francisco Police said that after speaking again to Apple representatives, it was discovered that Apple employees called Mission Police station directly, wanting assistance in tracking down a lost item. Because the address was in the neighbouring Ingleside Police district Apple employees were referred to the other police station.

Four SFPD Officers accompanied Apple employees to the home. The two Apple employees met with the resident and then went into the house to look for the lost item. The Apple employees did not find the lost item and left the house.

The Police statement confirmed that the Apple employees did not want to make an official report of the lost item.

The whereabouts of the missing prototype is still unknown.