Teenager arrested after police Facebook ‘friend’ saw him on a train

ALL it took was a Facebook post and a sneaky picture and an 18-year-old man wanted by Wagga Wagga police was located and locked up.

Officers had been searching for the teenager but he’d been one step ahead of them — that was until he was seen by a Facebook ‘friend’ of the NSW Police force early last Saturday.

The wanted man’s picture had been placed on the Wagga Wagga police Facebook page and was seen by a passenger on a train between Wagga Wagga and Sydney.

When the passenger looked across the carriage he spied the wanted man and secretly took a few pictures of him and sent them to police.

Officers from Wagga Wagga Local Area Command intercepted the train at Cootamundra and arrested the man. He was later charged with trespass and break and enter and refused bail to appear in court today.

Wagga Wagga Local Area Commander, Superintendent Bob Noble, said passenger’s quick response was extraordinary.

“His quick thinking demonstrates how police and the community are working together on social media sites to interact and solve crimes,” Superintedent Noble said.

“NSW Police Force has a strong presence on Facebook, with more than 475,000 friends on our main page and thousands more keeping in touch with local policing issues on individual Eyewatch pages.

He revealed there were many other crimes that were being solved due to information being shared on social media.

“Across the state, we are seeing more and more cases solved through information shared on social media and the Force is very proud of its online interaction with the community.”