What kind of thief steals a television from a carwash? The same kind that gets caught on Facebook.

A thief hid a 27 in. flat screen television that he stole from the men’s restroom of a Taunton, Mass. car wash under his sweatshirt, Gearlog.com reports.

While no one actually witnessed the thief take the television, car wash manager Nicole Telles reviewed a video surveillance tape in order to identify the thief. Not only did the thief take the television, the footage revealed that he paid with a credit card at the car wash before he stole the television.

Nicole Telles looked up the thief’s transaction and got his name. MSNBC reports that she then went on Facebook to search him down: “I went on Facebook, searched the name – the first and last name – and he was like the third one up top. He looked like the guy, and I was like, ‘All right. Let me request him’” as a “friend,” said Telles. “He accepted me, so I went through all his pictures, made sure it was him.”

Once she confirmed that the man was indeed the same thief in the surveillance video, her boss sent the thief a message asking him to return the television and that they wouldn’t call the police. The thief didn’t accept the offer; he tried to delete Ms. Telles from his account instead. However, it was a little too late for this amateur thief. Ms. Telles and her boss went to police and the cops arrested him.

There were a lot of weird things in this particular bungled car wash heist. First off, as Gather.com points out, if you steal from a business, don’t use your actual credit card there. Next, don’t get caught on a surveillance video. And last but not least, don’t accept your victim’s Facebook request.

Related Resources:

  • Caught By Facebook: Mass. Car Wash Locates Thief (FindLaw’s Law & Daily Life Blog)
  • Facebook Helps Solve TV Theft In Taunton(WHDH)
  • Facebook Status Updates Lead to Arrest (FindLaw’s Blotter Blog)

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