Facebook nabs burglar who checked account during robbery

Social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace are now one of the most popular aspects of the Web. Though some people seem resistant to get on board with them, most of us use at least one on a regular basis, mainly because they are very addictive. In fact, they are so addictive that an alleged burglar couldn’t resist checking his Facebook page while in the middle of a robbing someone’s house.

Whether it’s the feeling of conversing and sharing your life with strangers on Twitter, the games such as FarmVille and Mafia Wars on Facebook, or whatever it is that people do on the increasingly tired-looking MySpace, social networks are built to encourage regular use. Which is why most of us feel the need to log in a few times a day.

However, I’m not sure it’s the most sensible idea to get the urge to check the latest goings-on while robbing a house which, according to The Journal, is what happened in Pennsylvania recently. Jonathan G. Parker, a 19-year-old man from Fort Loudoun is accused of breaking into a woman’s home and stealing two diamond rings, between them worth in excess of $3,500.

And in the (slightly alternative) immortal words of the villain of the week in Scooby Doo, he would have got away with it if it weren’t for those pesky social networks. We know social network updates can lead to burglaries but this is a completely new one on me.

Parker was arrested on suspicion of the burglary when the woman used her computer, visited Facebook and realized someone was already signed in. Yes, the burglar had been in the middle of a daring robbery when he got the urge to check his Facebook. So he did. Which is bad enough in itself, but the fact he didn’t sign out or clean his tracks after venturing online in his victim’s home defies belief.

There are some mightily addictive apps on Facebook, as anyone whose news feed is constantly filled with notifications showing what their friends are up to can attest to. So I can only assume Parker wanted to check on his farm, make money in his underworld empire, or add a new word to his latest game of Scrabble. I’m guessing that word would either be “Fail”, “Stupid”, or “Caught”. Do they allow Facebook in jail?

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