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If You Steal Gas From A Cop Car And Post It On Facebook…

Another Thursday morning, and another story of idiocy played out on the public. The most public of stages, of course: Facebook. It’s probably not a good idea to siphon gas from anyone’s car. Not o...
If You Steal Gas From A Cop Car And Post It On Facebook…
Written by Josh Wolford
  • Another Thursday morning, and another story of idiocy played out on the public. The most public of stages, of course: Facebook.

    It’s probably not a good idea to siphon gas from anyone’s car. Not only is it a crime, but it’s also just a crappy thing to do to somebody. But let’s say you’re going to steal some gas. In that case, it’s probably not a good idea to steal it from a police officer. Ok, I understand if you have to steal it from a cop. But if you do, I would strongly advise against putting a photo of the act on Facebook.

    I’ll take a pause for your inevitable facepalm.

    According to The Smoking Gun, 20-year-old Michael Baker is facing charges after he stole gas from a Jenkins, Kentucky police car. The evidence for the crime was found on his Facebook page. The official complaint reads as follows:

    The above defendant unlawfully: Committed the offense of Theft by Unlawful Taking <$500 when he stole gas from a Jenkins City Police Cruiser with the intent to deprive them thereof valued at less than $500. Defendant posted a picture of the theft on Facebook.

    And there you have it. Baker told a local news station that it was all just a joke:

    “We was just standing there and thought it would be funny to take a picture and then post it on Facebook,” he said. “I mean, if we was going to steal gas, we wouldn’t put it nationwide on Facebook. We don’t steal anyway, but we’re sorry. I got a little bit of gas, I ain’t gonna lie, but not much. I couldn’t get much. I tried, but there wasn’t much in it.”

    The photo has been deleted from Facebook, but will live on thanks to some screencaps (as you can see above). But Baker is still talking about the arrest, saying he just got out of jail on Tuesday.

    (image)

    “Yea lol I went to jail over Facebook,” he says in the comments. “Yea lol u would just have to seen it it was funny as hell tho.”

    (image)

    This one’s a little personal to me, as Mr. Baker hails from my home state of Kentucky. But let’s be honest, people are doing a fine job making themselves looks like idiots on Facebook all over the place. A Florida man recently called 911 when his wife wouldn’t let him browse Facebook in peace. A Texas couple was arrested in February for bragging about vandalizing someone’s Jeep Wrangler on Facebook. Last year, some guy taunted police on Facebook, baiting them to find him. They did.

    And the examples go on and on. As long as we have social media, it appears we will have idiots who get themselves in trouble with it.

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