[justlurking]

One who finds lost property under circumstances which give him knowledge of or means of inquiry as to the true owner, and who appropriates such property to his own use, or to the use of another person not entitled thereto, without first making reasonable and just efforts to find the owner and to restore the property to him, is guilty of theft.

And therein lies the problem: the person who originally found the phone claims that he attempted to return the phone to Apple by calling the tech support line, and was given a "ticket number" for his trouble. They never returned his call.

If he still has that ticket number, he has proof that he tried to return the phone.

[PA Engineer]

If he still has that ticket number, he has proof that he tried to return the phone.

Smoke. He put up a 5K bounty for anyone who got hold of the phone. The phone should have been turned into the bar lost and found. I think a few people are going down for this one. As soon as it left the bar it was theft. Many other laws were broken when it was sold.

[Star Traveler]

You were saying ...

If he still has that ticket number, he has proof that he tried to return the phone.

If he still has the ticket... he should still be holding onto the lost item... waiting for them to get back and tell him if Apple lost it, doncha know... :-)

BUT, once he "appropriated the property for himself" and sold it, then it became theft (under the law, see it posted above), and thus, that's when he committed the crime.