Idaho Fugitive Caught: Man’s Facebook Invite Leads To His Arrest After Months On The Run

An Idaho fugitive was caught by police on Saturday, and the man led the police right to him. According to KTVB, Joey Patterson was arrested after he posted to his Facebook about attending batting practice at the Armory Softball Field in Boise. He even asked others to join him at the location, but the last thing he expected was the police to take him up on his offer.

Patterson had been on the run for several months. According to KBOI, police had issued “nationwide extradition felony arrest warrant for violating conditions of his probation.” His original case for fraud was out of Ohio, but the man lives in Boise.

Police arrived at the softball field mentioned in his Facebook post, and they took the man into custody at 5:15 p.m. on Saturday. He was booked into the Canyon County Jail, and he will remain in custody. He is being held without bond because of the felony warrant.

Sgt. Joey Hoadley from the Caldwell Police revealed to the media that arrests because of posts on social media are common.

“We keep a close eye on that stuff. Surprisingly, even fugitives can’t keep from updating their Facebook status, and it leads to some great arrests.”

This is not the only Idaho fugitive that made news in the last month. A man escaped from the county jail in Wallace, and he decided to hide in the backyard of a Marine. According to the San Jose Mercury News, the man that lived in the home went out to check on his barking dog, and he found the escapee. When the fugitive approached him, the homeowner shot him in the leg.

With social media use becoming more and more common, posts on social media are causing more people trouble. Bosses look at social media before hiring, and social media posts can also be used in legal situations like the one mentioned here.

Back in December, one man ruined his probation when he posted a very long message to his Facebook page on the day of his release. Ryan Fye was involved in a car accident that killed one man several years ago.

According to a previous Inquisitr report, he celebrated his release from prison by posting his message. It is not the words that landed Fye in trouble, but the photo he used with his words that the court and the victim’s family took offense to. He flipped off the camera with both hands.

The victim’s father spoke about Fye’s actions with the media.

“You get released from jail after six and a half months and this is the first thing you do. [He could say] I’m sorry about what happened. He doesn’t have to believe it. Just send something … he never apologized.”

As for Facebook, use of the social media site is growing daily. According to Zephoria, there are five new profiles created on the social media site every second. That is not all, though. The site also shared that “510 comments are posted, 293,000 statuses are updated, and 136,000 photos are uploaded” every minute. Each month, 1.39 billion users log into their accounts, and that number is an increase of 13 percent from last year.

In the case of Joey Patterson from Boise, he is probably wishing he had not sent out that invite to his friends to join him at the softball field on Saturday. He will now face more time behind bars because of it.

What do you think of the police using Facebook to catch criminals as they did in the case of this Idaho fugitive?

[Photo: Canyon County Police]