Law enforcement working with the insurance industry have stepped up its prosecution of car thieves – but it didn’t take a lot of police work to catch these Facebook-posting fools.
Two young men, already on parole for a string of armed robberies, went on a seven-month thieving spree during which they stole everything from high-end motorcycles to Mercedes Benzes to Lamborghinis from victims’ homes.
One of the victims included a Broughton, England couple who were both being treated for cancer.
Their vehicle, a Honda Accord, was found smashed into a tree in after a 115 km/h police chase, reported The Mirror.
But the joyride ended when the two thieves, Jonathan Dougan, 26, and Matthew Murphy, 23, of Salford, England, began gloating on social media, posting more than 50 pictures of themselves on Facebook – often with the very vehicles they had stolen.
One of the victims was tipped off that Dougan was responsible for the theft of his KTM motorcycle and checked out his Facebook page, only to see a picture of Dougan straddling his stolen bike. (continued.)
#pb#
He alerted police, who were able to find and download all the evidence they needed thanks to the thieves’ photo collection, and the pair were eventually arrested.
A police source told reporters that the pair was “a few sandwiches short of a picnic,” but noted they’d have plenty of time to reflect on their “stupidity.”
Both men were sentenced to four years and nine months in prison.
Look for coverage of the state of auto theft in Canada in the March issue of Insurance Business magazine.
