‘People You May Know’ Reveals Mugger To Victim On Facebook
Sometimes, Facebook can be used for good, as the victim of a mugging incident found out when spotting his attacker using the “People You May Know” feature on the social media platform.
The feature is offered by Facebook to suggest users living in the same area, or offers up other friends of existing pals on the social media website. It isn’t usually intended to identify criminals, but in this case it did the job nicely, leading to the criminal’s arrest and sentencing.
Judging by his criminal history, the suspect didn’t have too much luck when committing his various crimes.
[iGeeky] Mugger arrested after victim spots him on Facebook’s ‘people you may know’ section https://t.co/3ol0bkNd9i #technews #gadgets
— iGeeky (@iGeekyApp) May 29, 2016
Recently, the unnamed mugging victim, who lives in Birmingham in the U.K., spotted his attacker in the “People You May Know” feature, which appears on the right sidebar of Facebook, and his discovery helped police finalize charges and led to the suspect’s arrest.
As reported by the BBC, when he was recognized on the “People You May Know” list by the victim, the mugger was identified as 21-year-old Omar Famuyide, the attacker who brandished a knife during a recent car robbery.
The mugging at knife point wasn’t his only crime, however, as police were able to link Famuyide to a series of armed robberies and he, last month, received a jail sentence of 17 years at the Crown Court in Birmingham for robbery, attempted robbery, possession of a firearm and possession of a knife.
According to a report by Fox News, among Famuyide’s many crimes, he was accused of threatening a woman with a handgun in an attempted robbery, as well as stealing a BMW after pointing a gun at the car owner.
He was also one of two men who forced entry into the Ambassador’s Relaxation Suite in Florence Street, Birmingham, last July. Once inside, the two men threatened a woman with a metal bar and a handgun, which they fired before escaping, reportedly empty handed. A search uncovered the handgun that had been fired at the time, and police also uncovered keys to another vehicle stolen at knifepoint by the duo.
A month after the incident, Famuyide stole a car at gunpoint from a man in Highgate, Birmingham and the vehicle was found two days later. It was the victim of this crime that recognized the criminal by coincidence on Facebook, leading to his arrest.
Mugger arrested after victim spots him on Facebook’s ‘people you may know’ section: In a somewhat bizarre sto… https://t.co/rBqumvNpCo
— MacNTechs (@MacNTechs) May 29, 2016
According to Detective Constable Rhiannon Daff of the Birmingham Police, the piece of Facebook information was a crucial part of the investigation and was, in fact, “the final piece of the jigsaw” in finalizing the case against Famuyide.
According to the Telegraph, identifying criminals using social media apps is nothing new, as a 15-year-old girl narrowly escaped a knife-wielding criminal while chatting to her sister using FaceTime. Reportedly, her sister spotted the criminal creeping up behind her, knife in hand. The girl’s sister immediately shouted a warning into the phone.
Knife mugger is foiled after victim’s sister spots him on Facetime https://t.co/CQ7gEDMvng pic.twitter.com/Z3deA4jBmf
— Telegraph News (@TelegraphNews) June 3, 2016
The mugger, Steve Degg, 31, was reportedly disguised by a mask as he followed the teenage girl to school on December 15 last year.
Recently, a court in the U.K. heard that the teenager was using the video call service on her iPhone as the suspect approached her from behind, and Degg got a six-year sentence for his crime.
In other news relating to unlucky criminals, the Inquisitr reported Sunday on the story of an ingenious car thief who, in a crazy car chase, almost evaded the Los Angeles police.
[Image via West Midlands Police]
