You might want to file this one under the caption, “Guilty of Stupidity in the First Degree.”
Because of modern technology, coupled with the criminals’ stupidity and/or ignorance, law enforcement officers have been able to solve many crimes without leaving their desks.
An Atlanta man was tracked down, arrested and jailed after he reportedly posted selfies from a cell phone that he stole from a restaurant in North Fulton County, the Johns Creek Police Department stated.
James Jones told WSB-TV that his girlfriend put down her cellphone at a table inside a restaurant in Johns Creek, Ga., a suburb of Atlanta. She walked away briefly and, when she returned, she noticed the phone was gone. She filed a police report, but she never expected anything to come out of it.
“She filed a police report and that was that,” Jones said. “We really, in all honesty, didn’t expect to get anything back over a stolen phone.”
That is, until Willie Ray Shirley allegedly took “selfies” with the stolen phone.
The alleged thief must have been unaware that the selfies automatically uploaded online.
This is where Google Cloud has a positive connotation, as opposed to being the infamous virtual storehouse where perverted hackers leaked hundreds of nude photos of Hollywood celebrity females,. This time, it was used to track down a criminal.
A few days after the phone was stolen, Jones told reporters he and his girlfriend noticed selfies of a man they didn’t know appearing onto Google Cloud.
“I bet this is the guy who’s got your phone,” Jones told his girlfriend.
Jones immediately forwarded the images to Johns Creek police, who quickly identified Shirley as the suspect. The department was able to procure an arrest warrant and then snatched Shirley, who is now housed inside the Fulton County Jail.
“To get an arrest on a stolen cell phone is a very rare thing,” Johns Creek police Capt. Chris Byers told WSB-TV. “Putting a picture of yourself up there definitely helped us in this investigation.”
Photo: selfies of Willie Ray Shirley. Credit: Johns Creek Police Department
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