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Recently expanding its usage to include the delivery of legal documentation, popular social network Facebook has now helped provide pivotal information leading to a criminal arrest in New Zealand.
Facebook used to nab bungling burglar. Image: Queenstown Police/AP.
Unable to confirm the identity of a man caught on camera as he struggled to break into a bar’s safe in the tourist haven of Queenstown, stumped police authorities took the decision to place the CCTV footage before the eyes of Facebook’s many millions of users by posting it to the online network.
The Facebook content, which was taken from more than an hour of total footage of frustrated safe cracking, showed the burglar removing his gloves and lifting his balaclava, which the Queenstown Police hoped would result in a positive identification.
Thanks to its availability through the Queenstown Police Facebook page, the clip did indeed result in that desired identification, which in turn led to the criminal’s arrest. The unnamed man has since been charged with two counts of burglary and is due to appear in court on January 26.
“We had a number of responses,” commented Senior Sgt. John Fookes of the Queenstown Police in an AP report. “Facebook was very, very handy, and it’s a good little tool.”
In terms of future use, Mr. Fookes added that the Queenstown Police would certainly consider turning to Facebook again in helping to solve crimes. “If we’ve got something that the public can help us with then we’ll certainly be putting it on Facebook,” he said.
After struggling in vain to gain access to the $20,000 New Zealand dollars held within the Franklin Tavern’s sturdy safe, the foiled criminal only spotted the camera as he admitted defeat by packing his tools and heading for the exit – by which time his face had already been exposed.
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