Burglary suspect busted because he left his Facebook page open on victim's computer, police say
A Minnesota man effectively updated his Facebook status to “busted” after he logged into his account while burglarizing a St. Paul home and left the page open, police say.
Nicholas Steven Wig, 26, was charged with burglary and jailed after resident James Wood arrived home last week, found the place in disarray with someone else’s wet clothes on the floor and discovered that items were missing, according to CNN and the Pioneer Press.
He also discovered something else: A Facebook page had been pulled up on his home computer and left open. So Wood shared the suspect’s photo, asked for help finding him and soon actually heard from Wig himself. After Wood talked the suspect into a meeting to return a missing cellphone in exchange for the wet clothes found at the home, he contacted authorities, the articles report. Police said Wig was wearing a watch taken during the burglary when he was arrested.
“I’ve never heard of this occurring before,” Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom told the Pioneer Press, referring to the evidence provided by the open Facebook page. “It’s obviously fairly unique.”
