Facebook helps solve TV theft in Taunton

TAUNTON, Mass. -- A robber walked out of a Taunton carwash and gas station with a flat-screen TV under his shirt. The robber thought he got away, but the manager of that carwash tracked him down.

The manager of Prestige Carwash and Gas Station, Nicole Telles, showed 7NEWS the men’s bathroom where the crime went down, where the 27” flat-screen used to hang. But police say a 20-year-old ripped it right from the mount and took off.

Telles said he hid the TV under his sweatshirt.

“I felt like, if we had all the information…the process would be a lot quicker,” said Telles.

Telles said she didn’t catch him when the crime went down, but she knew she could do some detective work of her own, and figure out who the suspect was.

The surveillance video shows the suspect using a credit card to pay for gas, and he had been at the counter as well. So Telles looked up the transaction and got his name. She then started digging into the popular website, Facebook.

“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, ‘Alright. Let me request him.’” said Telles. “He accepted me, so I went through all his pictures, made sure it was him.”

She says her boss even sent him a message telling him to bring back the TV and they wouldn't call police.

“He ended up deleting me, so then we thought to ourselves that the kid doesn’t want to give it up,” said Telles.

They went to police with all of their evidence and the suspect was then arrested.

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