Man Surrenders To Police After Google Search Reveals He Is A Wanted Fugitive!


A man in Palo Alto, California surrendered himself to police after a Google Search revealed to him that he is a wanted fugitive! According to SFGate, Christopher Viatafa might have done what millions of internet users do on a daily basis – google their own names and find out what appears in the search results. Usually what turns out is a list of websites that appear listing their names. In case they have a wider social presence, their search results may go well past the first page. They may also find other people who share the same name as theirs. Even prospective employers are known to do this in order to do some background checks on future employees. In all, egosurfing, as the activity of “searching for your own name on search engines” is termed, has become a normal online behavior.

So, when Christopher did the same activity on Google, like millions of other internet users do, he ended up finding out that he is listed as a wanted fugitive by the San Leandro Police Department on the website of The Northern California Regional Intelligence Center (NCRIC), which is an Intelligence Sharing Initiative owned and operated by the Federal, State and Local Public Safety Partners of the region. Once he figured out he is a fugitive, he quickly turned himself in and surrendered to the police. According to an official from The San Leandro Police Department, Viatafa “exercised good judgment” by turning himself in, reports ABC.

Unbelievable as it may seem, Christopher Viatafa seems to have been unaware of the fact that he was a fugitive. Even more perplexing is the fact that Christopher apparently led a comfortable life, without the police being on his trail for over seven months since the incident that made him a fugitive in the first place. Quite possible in an age when a fugitive was captured 37 years after she escaped from a prison.

Back in August 2013, Viatafa did not use his new found “good judgment” and allegedly used a handgun during a party. He got into an argument with someone at the venue and fired a few rounds to the ground. The incident happened in the midst of a private party at the San Leandro Senior Center on East 14th Street on Aug. 8. After he was forced out of the venue, he was still angry and fired a few more shots. Luckily, no one was hurt in the melee. While Viatafa might have went home with a bad memory, it seems the police department had other plans. They were seeking Viatafa to press charges against him for “assault with a deadly weapon” and for “discharging a firearm toward an inhabited dwelling”. At this point it is unsure how the police did not manage to capture a fugitive who was not on the run. Anyway, seven months on, it took a Google search by the fugitive himself to find out that he indeed was a fugitive. He might be thanking his stars that he managed to get the police before they got him!

As of now, Viatafa’s profile and picture appears in the list of captured fugitives with no reference to the fact that it was a Google search that eventually led to his “capture”!

Share this article: Man Surrenders To Police After Google Search Reveals He Is A Wanted Fugitive!
More from Inquisitr