In a rather bizarre series of events, Apple has been forced to file a suit and get a restraining order issued against Rakesh ‘Rocky’ Sharma, a San Francisco resident who allegedly made several threatening calls to the company, claimed that Apple mocked and tried to kill him when he was in the hospital, and twice trespassed upon Apple CEO Tim Cook’s residence. In a court filing, Apple’s legal representative said that Sharma has been attempting to harass various executives of the company since September 25, 2019.
According to the filing, Sharma began by leaving a rather seriously threatening voicemail on an Apple executive’s phone. Following this, he called Apple Care and issued similar threats, including gun violence. Following this, he escalated to stalking Tim Cook, who is one of the most important and popular tech executives in the world, by turning up at his residence in December – unannounced and without permission, with a bouquet of flowers and a bottle of champagne. He apparently managed to do the same again, evading security and knocking on his door for the second time in January.
Following this, Sharma is also alleged to have made demands for a cash settlement from Apple, claiming that an executive laughed at him over phone and hung up when he was hospitalised. He also fabricated that his legal representative was none other than the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi. A report filed by Cnet on the matter states that Sharma claimed all of this to be “a misunderstanding”, and that he does not have an attorney representing him, yet. Sharma is expected to appear for a hearing on the matter on March 3, which is when Apple’s temporary restraining order on him expires.
While it is not uncommon for technology giants and their top executives to get unwarranted approaches or stalkers, Sharma’s antics seem to have taken things one step too far, after he seemingly breached Cook’s personal security and made hints of gun violence. Sharma reportedly posted a video on Twitter earlier this month, where he criticised Tim Cook directly for having “serious issues” within Apple, before asserting that the top executive needs to leave the Bay Area.
“Shoo, Tim Cook, out of the Bay Area,” he concluded.
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