Apple: Teens not banned from stores

PALO ALTO, Calif., May 30 (UPI) -- An Apple Inc. spokesman has denied that four teenagers were permanently banished from all the company's stores by a Palo Alto, Calif., manager.

The four teenagers said they were detained at an Apple store for more than 2 hours and then were told they could never return to any of the company's stores, after they downloaded a third-party car racing game onto a store iPhone, the San Jose (Calif.) Mercury News reported Friday.

The boys claimed the store manager called the police -- although no arrests were made -- and took photos that they were told would be sent to other stores.

Apple spokesman Steve Dowling said the teens are still welcome at any Apple store.

"They were not banned from that store or any other store," Dowling said.