I can't remember the last time I read or heard something in the news about something positive and uplifting -- I tried out the "good news network" but the bad news was, they charged to view good news! The following is a story about perseverance and dedication, but not in the way you would suspect and I won’t charge you a thing:
Not too long ago, I was leaving Peet’s Tea and Coffee in Lafayette and sitting directly on top of my car was an Iphone 4. I looked around and did not see an immediate owner in sight and I feared that if I left it in Peets, someone, who it did not belong to, would claim ownership of the phone. Also, because the phone was “ passcode locked” I couldn’t call someone in the owner’s phone list to alert them to the lost phone.
Now, I am guessing most of you folks are like me – you keep your life in your phone, your pictures, your numbers, your addresses and appointments but moreover your piece of mind! To lose a smart-phone in this day and age can be extremely stressful and limiting and it turns out returning property like this to its rightful owner is not as easy as you’d expect.
When I called Apple and explained the predicament, the person I spoke with said, “This is an unusual situation, I will need to speak to my supervisor.” The supervisor advised that I drop it off at the police department and that the police department would then be able to call Apple and be given the Iphone owners information.
I made contact with Eileen Fahy who is a Crime Scene Tech at the Lafayette Police Department. Through her hard work and dedication the person with the lost phone would be able to soon recover their phone, but not without a few more obstacles
It turns out when Eileen called Apple, Apple although previously had told me they would give the information to the Police Department would not offer that information over the phone -- they first wanted to know the cell phone carrier of the phone e.g (AT&T, Verizon..etc) and the serial code, two things that cannot be gained without unlocking a locked phone with a passcode, a passcode we did not have to begin with -- argh!
Eileen Fahy, not finding any help through Apple took it upon herself to work with the Martinez Sheriff’s office to get the phone back to the proper owner, and she was able to find the proper owner and return their phone – Phew!
Eileen let me know that people have been pretty good about turning things in to the Lafayette Police Department Lost and Found, but interestingly enough people don’t know that they can go there and recover their lost items!
To report or ask after a Lost and Found item, the Lafayette Police Department Front Desk Number is: (925)286-3680 and they are located off of 3675 Mt Diablo Boulevard, Lafayette, CA – their building is called Desco Plaza and I will be enclosing a picture.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Eileen Fahy for all of her hard work and dedication. Even though a big company like Apple will sell us a phone and what seems like piece of mind , it turns out the people who have our back and who will go the extra mile for us are the people we rely on for that protection and safety – thank you Eileen Fahy and the Lafayette Police department for dedicating your time to serve and protect us!
