Wanted Suspect Tells Police He‘ll Surrender If They Get 15,000 ’Likes’ on His Facebook Post

Picture of the wanted suspect, Jose Simms released on Facebook by police. City of Torrington Police Department

A wanted suspect has negotiated with the police through Facebook that he will turn himself in if they get 15,000 “likes” on his Facebook post.

“Jose Simms (The first warrant pictured) negotiated with me earlier this week (Through Facebook) and has agreed to turn himself into Torrington Police if we can get 15,000 ”likes“ on this post (I said 10,000 he wanted 20,000, we split),” City of Torrington Police Department said.

The 29-year-old suspect is wanted on multiple warrants for failing to appear in the court, according to ABC7.

He agreed to surrender to the police if the post about him received 15,000 likes. Police think it is difficult but doable.

“So please, ”like” this post, and while you’re at it share it, Tweet it, Instagram it, Snapchat it, WUPHF it,(Thanks Jared!) (Pronounced Woof, its a reference to the television show, ‘The Office’...nevermind :D ), or use whatever other platforms are out there that I don’t know about,” the police wrote in the post.

Police said it would even do better if people can help them locate the suspect.

“Then again, if you know where either of these guys are, you could always let us know that too, it'd save everyone from the suspense of the 15K....Let’s get it!!”

People appreciated Torrington Police’s sense of humor.

“The fact that you quoted The Office had me ”liking“ this post before I even finished it. It’s wonderful knowing Torrington’s police have a great sense of humor!” Jamie Rose Warner commented to the Police’s post.

“I love the sense of humor from the Torrington Police Department! Praying that one way or another you meet your objective soon!” wrote Patricia Giusti Chipko.

People also responded with a wit to the post. “Will the surrender be Facebook lived?” commented Sean Sullivan.

Crimes Related to Facebook

The Torrington Police Department’s case is witty and engaging, but there’s another side to crime on Facebook that’s more serious.

Queensland Police in Australia lodged 5,000 cases involving Facebook in 2011, reported the Courier Mail. This number globally for the same year was 12,300 alleged offenses linked to the popular social media network, according to the Daily Mail.

Criminal reference to Facebook happened in cases of murder, rape, child sex offenses, assault, kidnap, death threats, witness intimidation, and fraud.

“What people need to remember is that crime is just a reflection of the society that we live in,” a senior detective told Daily Mail.

“Just like a knife or a car, there is nothing intrinsically dangerous or criminal about Facebook, but just like both of those things, it needs to be treated with respect because of the dangers that can be associated with its use.”

Hundreds of criminals were found to be using Facebook to harass their victims from behind prison bars.

However, Facebook has also been helping law enforcement authorities to solve criminal cases.

“According to a 2012 survey, two-thirds of law enforcement officials believe that social media helps solve crimes more quickly, and 80 percent use social media to assist in investigations,” according to govtech.com.