Yeah I think they were pretty dumb to disclose all of the details of the story, they should have just taken it apart, taken their pictures, given it back to the seller and washed their hands of it. Telling everyone how they got it, who it came from, how much they paid etc is only going to get them into trouble.
On the other hand, with the police knocking down his door, at least it's totally clear it wasn't a fake
Wasn't that the whole point to disclose this story in such an extent? The drama -and clicks- generated by exposing where the phone came from, how they obtained it, how much they paid, the engineer's full name and all other small details were the reason why this story got so much attention.
No amount of "leaked pictures by an anonymous source" posts could compete with laying down a perfect controversy as Gizmodo did with this story.
On the other hand, with the police knocking down his door, at least it's totally clear it wasn't a fake