Despite a day of wild rumors, SFWeekly is reporting that the San Francisco Police Department did assist Apple investigators when an iPhone prototype device again went missing in a bar late July this year.

Contradicting past statements that no records exist of police involvement in the search for the lost prototype, San Francisco Police Department spokesman Lt. Troy Dangerfield now tells SF Weekly that “three or four” SFPD officers accompanied two Apple security officials in an unusual search of a Bernal Heights man’s home. “Apple came to us saying that they were looking for a lost item, and some plainclothes officers responded out to the house with them. My understanding is that they stood outside. They just assisted Apple to the address.”

This follows claims that Apple employees had actually impersonated police officers however these now appear to be well wide of the mark. Just as well as that would have been a criminal offence! One thing does remain a bit of a mystery, why did San Francisco Police Department take so long to actually record the incident?

[SFWeekly via MacRumors]

As has been widely covered on the net, Foxconn worker Sun Danyong of Shenzhen, responsible for 16 fourth-generation iPhone prototypes, committed suicide on July 16, after reporting one of the prototypes missing three days earlier.

Foxconn is the Taiwanese company that has long manufactured Apple iPods and the iPhone. Colleagues informed the Chinese media that Sun notified them over internet chat that he was confined, abused during interrogation, and had his property searched. Foxconn chief of security, Gu Qinming, who refutes the allegations, has been suspended.

Apple released the following statement to CNet:

“We are saddened by the tragic loss of this young employee, and we are awaiting results of the investigations into his death. We require our suppliers to treat all workers with dignity and respect.”

UPDATED: YouTube pulled the previous video due to a copyright claim by Apple. Engadget is currently providing an alternate video. Get it while it lasts…

ORIGINAL: Dieter and I were just talking about the iPhone prototype up on Ebay, went to check the current price (previously over $2000), and found that it had been yanked off of auction. We’re guessing this is in response to a take-down request from Apple, who might claim physical or at least intellectual property rights over the device.

The YouTube video is still up for now, so enjoy it (while it lasts?)