Pastor’s Amazon buy turns into ‘theft’ nightmare

HE BOUGHT a bad Apple.

Bronx pastor Tyrone Holmes thought he’d purchased a new Macbook on Amazon, but instead he was sent a laptop that previously belonged to a secretive oil pump company.

The company then threatened to sue him, and the police warned he’d be arrested unless he returned the 15-inch device, a lawsuit alleges.

Holmes ordered the $1,800 Macbook Pro on June 22, 2016, along with a $345.50 AppleCare protection plan, according to his Manhattan Federal Court suit.

But on Sept. 8, NYPD Detective Rodrigo Caballero rolled up to Holmes’ home and started asking his neighbors where he was, the lawsuit states.

“My neighbors have not looked at me the same,” said Holmes, 49.

Caballero called Holmes the next day and informed him that his Macbook contained “sensitive” surveillance software — and that he and other cops went to his home to take possession of the device.

Caballero called again on Sept. 10, and Holmes told him his estranged wife had the laptop and he didn’t know her whereabouts. But the detective kept calling and, “due to the increasingly threatening nature of the communications,” Holmes lawyered up on Sept. 12, he says in the suit he filed in June.

When Holmes’ criminal defense lawyer, Jeff Garfin, spoke with Caballero, the cop told him the laptop belonged to CheckPoint Fluidic Systems International. Caballero told Garfin he could arrest Holmes if it wasn’t returned.

Garfin demanded proof from Caballero, and he was forwarded a letter from Bobbi Jo Bridges, CheckPoint’s vice president of operations for the Mandeville, La., company. “If this equipment is returned immediately, in its original condition complete with all original parts and pieces, we will not move further to pursue legal action,” Bridges wrote, according to Holmes’ complaint and a copy of the letter attached to it. Then the letter took a surreptitious turn. “As a further condition of this agreement, I would require this matter be resolved through our mutual contact at the NYPD, Detective Rodrigo Caballero. I see no reason for your client, Mr. Holmes, to have any knowledge of our organization or its employees.” it read. “To conclude our arrangement, please certify that our organization and staff shall remain anonymous to your client.”

Holmes (photo) kept trying to get the computer back — and his lawyer explained as much to the detective — but they said Caballero wouldn’t let up.

“This was a daily event,” Garfin said.

On Sept. 21, the detective told Garfin he would arrest Holmes for criminal possession of stolen property. The detective also said Holmes had to surrender at the 47th Precinct stationhouse in Edenwald, at 1 p.m. on Sept. 22.

Garfin bought his client some time, and Holmes retrieved the computerseveral weeks later. Although he was cleared of wrongdoing, he says he has not yet received a refund for the laptop.

“I was a wreck,” he said. “You hear all these stories about jail . . .”

CheckPoint did not return a request for comment Wednesday.

Both Amazon and Apple declined comment.