What would you do if you had Steve Jobs‘ iPad? Kenny the Clown, who had the late Apple (AAPL) co-founder’s tablet all to himself for a few days this month, didn’t play any games, surf the net or check for any top-secret corporate documents.
Instead, he loaded iTunes to play the “Pink Panther” theme song and Michael Jackson, using the magical device to entertain Bay Area kids and tourists during his clown routine.
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.”
Police said Kariem McFarlin, a 35-year-old Alameda resident, gave Kahn a silver 64GB iPad that was stolen out of the Waverley Street home on July 17. McFarlin also allegedly gave another iPad to his daughter, and both devices were returned to the Jobs family after McFarlin was arrested on Aug. 2, police said.
McFarlin is accused of stealing iPods, Macs, Tiffany & Co. Jewelry, and even Jobs’ wallet and driver’s license by using a spare key he found on the property to break into the home, which was under construction. The heist has sparked international media attention since being revealed by this newspaper late Monday.
Kahn had played around with plenty of iPads at Apple stores and thought he had just gotten an old device McFarlin wanted to get rid of, assuming his friend had purchased a newer-version iPad.
“I didn’t notice anything special or anything like that,” said Kahn, adding he had the iPad for three or four days before police asked for it back. “It was silver; it looked normal. I was basically using it like an iPod.”
Kahn — who unsuccessfully ran for mayor of his hometown Alameda in 2006 and 2010 and for San Francisco mayor in 2007 — met McFarlin when he coached him on the Encinal High School basketball team in Alameda more than 10 years ago, and they remained close.
He said McFarlin is not “any type of menace” and before the story hit the news, his friends figured it was a case of mistaken identity.
“He’s a nice guy who made a horrible, horrible decision,” Kahn said. “I wish I could ask him: ‘What were you thinking?'”
McFarlin is due in court Monday where he will be represented by a recently hired private attorney. The public defender’s office, which is still officially representing McFarlin, declined to comment and said McFarlin’s new attorney wants to remain anonymous until Monday’s hearing.
Court records show McFarlin pleaded guilty in Santa Clara County Superior Court in 1999 to driving without a license, a misdemeanor that netted him fines and a year of probation. The former San Jose State football player was also arrested by Pleasant Hill police last year on suspicion of stealing but prosecutors never filed charges.
“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.
McFarlin, who police say confessed to the crime, remained in jail Thursday in lieu of $500,000 bail. Apple and the Jobs family have declined to comment.
“It still hasn’t really 100 percent set in for me. It was Steve Jobs’ iPad — literally,” Kahn said. “If this thing weren’t so tragic, it would be comical.”
Contact Mike Rosenberg at 408-920-5705. Follow him at twitter.com/rosenberg17.
