Does This Qualify as Theft?

I was out for a ride yesterday and after stopping to check my location (on my iPhone), I didn't properly secure the phone in the tank bag and it fell out onto the parking lot. I stopped again about 20 minutes later and realized that my phone was missing so I drove back to the location in question.

After pulling back into the parking lot, a couple of kids waved me over and said that someone in their group had seen me drop the phone and he then took it after I rode away. They then directed me towards a skate/bike park down the street where the kid may be. The thief was not there, but the other kids where able to provide me with his full name and cell phone number.

Several phone calls and text messages where placed to the thief. While he did not directly respond about 30-40 minutes later the kid's father comes down to the park and returns the phone to me; without so much as an apology.

The phone appeared to be functional, and the entire process had delayed us over an hour, so I properly stored it and drove back home.

Upon further inspection the "thief," discarded the screen protector and broke the hard case the phone was in. He also attempted to wipe the data from the phone, deleted several applications, turned off the data access, GPS, etc. in an attempt to prevent tracking. I am also planning on having the phone examined by a tech at Apple to see if any additional damage occurred?.

I realize that I was pretty lucky to get the phone back, but would like to be compensated for the damage done. Although I do not definitively know the father's full name I know the company he works for (returned the phone to me in a company truck) and I plan to contact him on Monday and ask for him to either buy a new case/screen protector or provide the necessary funds.

If he declines would the above incident even qualify as reportable to the local police department? I figure that some type of official record would be beneficial if I decide to pursue a small claims action.

Good luck with that

Just be glad they were good enough to get your phone back to you.

USMCMP5811 already posted my point. Deleted.

Lock your phone and install this:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/find-my-iphone/id376101648?mt=8

oh and

Even easier for the guy to find his phone then, rather than relying on the kids "friends".

Short answer, yes. I feel like the time I spent reading that was stolen. Long answer, you got your phone back stop whining and let it go. Oooh boohoo, you were delayed. You would have been delayed anyway looking for your phone, getting a new phone and all that stuff your complaining about would have been lost anyway. What are you some kind of jackass? You're going to call where the father works? Seriously, you're going to cause this guy trouble on his job because he took the time to get your phone back to you instead of saying screw it. Here's a thought, take them to Judge Judy but make sure you bring all his friends with you to testify that he saw you lose the phone and didn't just find it.

Officer, why aren't you ever around when (insert violent crime of choice here) is happening outside my house?

Well dear citizen, because I'm tied up listening to idiots all day whine about how THEY fucked up and want ME to fix their stupidity...

Just feel fortunate he didn't take a picture of his genitals and sent it to everyone on your contact list and then
Post it to your Facebook page.

Use it as a learning experience, secure your stuff.

Walk into your closest police station and demand that they give you a report. If that they don't listen to you yell louder until something happens.

I had to respond to a guy's house the other day because kids were running 'near' his car and wanted to make sure they didn't damage it.

When I asked him if he had checked for damage he said, 'no.'

I just stared at him for a few seconds, got in my cruiser and drove away.

Cleared - No police action

Yea. That.

I had a phone jacked several years ago, long before cloud syncing of data / contacts. I literally paid the "finder" $20 to get the phone back.