A senior studying biochemistry wants Ohio University to pay $1,340 for losing his iPod.
Devin Patchell, 21, sued the university in late September after an OU Police Department investigation into the disappearance of his 20-gigabyte iPod turned cold. He wants $1,340 to replace the iPod, a rubber case and 1,000 songs he bought online.
The lawsuit hit a snag in October, when Patchell's letter notifying the university of the lawsuit - a step required by law - was returned, marked insufficient address. In an interview, Patchell said he intends to send another letter early this month.
In his complaint, Patchell describes how the iPod slipped out of his grasp on May 28 during a visit to the Aquatic Center.
I left my iPod on the sundeck one afternoon and a friend
rather than holding onto it for me thought it would be best to turn it in to the staff Patchell wrote, adding he called later that afternoon and was told the iPod was in the center's lost-and-found. I then came back to the Aquatic Center only to be told one of the staff employees had taken it out of the concession and stolen my iPod.
An internal investigation at the Aquatic Center, according to e-mails forwarded to OUPD, pointed toward one employee. OUPD, which began investigating about a month after the iPod vanished, considers the case inactive, said Sally Linder, senior director of media relations for OU.
(The Aquatic Center employees) were negligent in following (the lost-and-found) protocol when they found it
Patchell said.
Statistics on iPod theft are hard to find, but in a 2007 patent filing Apple noted iPod theft has become a serious problem. Sam Costello, who blogs about iPods for About.com, said it's hard to say how attractive a 20-gigabyte iPod might be to a thief.
It's not the newest model
and the newer models have much higher capacity
so I suppose it depends on the technological sophistication of the thief
Costello said. It's certainly a couple generations behind.
1
News
Dave Hendricks
