During a 16-hour standoff with SWAT teams, an armed man in Salt Lake City who had taken a woman hostage updated friends and family about the incident on Facebook.
Jason Valdez, according to the Associated Press, made six status updates, posted pictures of himself and the woman (“Got a cute `Hostage’ huh,” he captioned one of them), and added at least a dozen new Facebook friends during the standoff.
Valdez had taken the woman hostage Tuesday evening when police tried to serve him with a felony drug warrant after a missed court appearance.
“I’m currently in a standoff … kinda ugly, but ready for whatever,” Valdez first wrote on his wall. “I love u guyz and if I don’t make it out of here alive that I’m in a better place and u were all great friends.”
Friends and family responded with more than 100 messages. At least one of them warned Valdez about police activity outside, to which he responded, “Thank you homie. Good looking out.”
After officers swarmed the room, Valdez shot himself in the chest with a handgun. The AP reported that he was in critical condition on Tuesday.
Valdez isn’t the first to check into Facebook during a crime. In 2009, a burglar logged into Facebook while robbing a house — and forgot to log out. Similarly, police used Facebook to track down the teenager who posted a “Should Obama be assassinated?” poll, and police caught a fugitive who had fled to Mexico using information from Facebook.
Unlike in these incidents, however, authorities believe Valdez’s Facebook communication gave him an advantage in the standoff. They are discussing whether his friends should be charged with obstruction of justice for interfering with a police investigation.
This is classic!
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