Apple has obtained a temporary restraining order against an alleged San Francisco stalker with the nickname “Rocky” who has been harassing chief executive Tim Cook.
According to a report Friday, Apple was forced into legal action against Rakesh Sharma over posting inappropriate photos of Tim Cook on Twitter, leaving a disturbing voicemail on his business phone, attempting to trespass on Cook’s personal property and what not.
One night in early December, a man carrying a bottle of champagne and flowers showed up at Apple CEO Tim Cook’s home. He returned a month later, entering the property’s gate without permission and ringing the doorbell.
Apple’s legal filing describes these actions as “threatening statements”, prompting its leadership to seek a restraining order against the 41-year-old San Francisco man. Rakesh’s been ordered to stay away from Cook’s residence in Silicon Valley and his security guards.
https://twitter.com/davegershgorn/status/1230607184263884800
The tech giant’s security specialist William Burns said in the filing that harassment began on September 25, 2019, when Rakesh left a “disturbing” voicemail on Cook’s phone. Another unsettling call followed about a week later., at which point Sharma’s behavior “escalated” as the man physically trespassed on the CEO’s personal property on two separate occasions.
‘Sharma entered Cook’s property through a closed gate without permission at around 10:30 p.m. on December 4 in an effort to deliver the flowers and champagne,’ the filing said. ‘Shortly thereafter, Mr. Sharma continued to tag the Apple executive on his Twitter account, which included sexualized and inappropriate photos of Mr. Sharma with reference to the Apple executive,’ it said.
But Sharma didn’t stop there.
On January 15 this year, he returned to Cook’s residence only to leave before the Palo Alto Police Department arrived. Even that wasn’t enough to Sharma as he earlier this month posted a silly video to Twitter, saying “Hey Tim Cook, you have serious issues at your brand. You need to leave the Bay Area. Basically, I’m shooing you out. Shoo, Tim Cook, out of the Bay Area.”
A hearing is scheduled for March 3.
“Mr. Sharma’s continuous and increasingly threatening conduct is causing me and other Apple employees significant emotional distress and gives me grave concern for our personal safety,” Burns said. Sharma also placed “two nonsensical” calls to Apple asking for a cash settlement, going as far as saying his attorney was Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi.
Apple’s attorneys sent Sharma a cease-and-desist letter on February 5, telling him to not contact Apple and its executive team. That same day, Sharma called AppleCare and ‘made a number of highly disturbing and threatening comments,’ the filing said.
‘During the call, Mr. Sharma stated that he knows where members of Apple’s executive team live and stated that ‘I don’t use ammunition but I know people who do,’ that Apple’s CEO is a criminal and that the company tried to have Mr. Sharma killed while Mr. Sharma was in the hospital,’ Burns said. He added that Sharma ‘made other delusional and paranoid comments related to Apple.’
Clearly this person suffers from mental health issues because his behavior and messages don’t really paint a picture of an innocent nobody who has unwillingly crossed the line of appropriate communication because they may have been star-struck by Cook.
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