Apple has been granted a temporary restraining order against a man whom the company accuses of being an “aggressive” stalker who harassed CEO Tim Cook and other members of Apple’s executive team.
The man, Rakesh “Rocky” Sharma, trespassed on Cook’s personal property in Palo Alto, California, at 10:30 p.m. on Dec. 4, a security specialist for Apple said in documents dated Feb. 13 filed in Santa Clara County Superior Court. The security specialist said Sharma entered through the closed gate and tried to deliver “flowers and a bottle of champagne” to Cook.
Before trespassing, Sharma left “disturbing voicemails” on an unnamed Apple executive’s phone, according to the Apple statement, and he called the technical support line, saying he knew where members of the executive team live.
“I don’t use ammunition but I know people who do,” he said, according to the Apple statement.
Rex Crum for The Mercury News:
Rakesh “Rocky” Sharma, of San Francisco, must stay at least 200 yards away from Cook and his Palo Alto home, and Apple’s Apple Park headquarters in Cupertino. Sharma is alleged to have left several threatening voicemails against Cook and Apple, posted sexual photos on Twitter in which he tagged Cook in the photos, and on occasions in December 2019 and January of this year, trespassed on the grounds of Cook’s home.
https://twitter.com/davegershgorn/status/1230607184263884800
He has been ordered to stay away from Cook’s residence in Silicon Valley, as well as the CEO’s three security guards.
MacDailyNews Note: 24 hours divided by 3, equals three 8-hour shifts or just one bodyguard for Cook at all times, except for shift changes. That’s not enough. That should be doubled, at the very least. It’s not like Apple doesn’t have the money and Cook, if he was reticent before, should accept the bolstered security now, if he hasn’t already.
In a court document, Apple security specialist William Burns said Sharma’s harassment began on Sept. 25, 2019, when he left a “disturbing” voicemail on “an Apple executive’s phone.” Sharma allegedly made another unsettling call about a week later… A video Sharma posted to Twitter in early February criticized Cook. “Hey Tim Cook, you have serious issues at your brand,” he says. “You need to leave the Bay Area. Basically, I’m shooing you out. Shoo, Tim Cook, out of the Bay Area.”
After allegedly trespassing on Cook’s property, Sharma in February placed “two nonsensical” calls to Apple, Burns said in a filing. In one, he asked for a cash settlement because he said an “Apple employee laughed at him over the phone and hung up while Mr. Sharma was allegedly recovering in the hospital.” Sharma told Apple that his attorney is Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, according to a court filing.
MacDailyNews Take: This is very scary! A stalker is not something for Apple or Tim Cook to take lightly – and they’re not, as evidenced by the restraining order. Apple needs to seriously boost Cook’s security detail – and don’t arm them with green squirt guns 🔫, either.