Social media and the intelligent detective lead to a burglary arrest in Hemet – Orange County Register

The intelligent detective of an officer, a creator of the social media who started exploding and identifying a victim helped the Hemet police to carry out a burglary this month which had brought back thieves of $ 55,000 of distinctive jewelry, game consoles, high-end shoes and money.

“The investigation took place as 30 different places,” said Eric Shelton, the investigating officer, in an interview on Thursday, April 10. “Every two seconds, new information has been published.”

The burglary occurred on April 2. PlayStation 5 was taken, as well as $ 6,000 in cash. The most notable were a personalized chain with the word “dad” on it, a gold necklace with diamonds and what Shelton described as a rolex necklace – all easily identifiable.

A community services agent took the burglary report because there were no suspects known at the time.

But then Shelton received a call according to which two men had gone to a neighbor and demanded that the resident deleted all the surveillance images. Shelton said he didn’t believe that men had explained their request and that images doubted any images. But he said that the neighbor could not offer a large part of a description of the men, who were apparently not recorded.

However, the call encouraged Shelton to visit the victim, and it was when the police obtained his first break.

“Speaking to the victim, he said that his card was used in a Popeye in San Bernardino,” said Shelton. “So I put two and two together that they will probably use a lender on wages. If I fly something, I need to get rid of it. It’s hot.”

So, said Shelton, he visited Highland Pawn in Highland, where the owner said that he remembered that people had tried a pledge jewelry that corresponded to the description that Shelton provided. The officer obtained images of surveillance for men and showed them to the victim.

Their faces – and the rest of their heads – were familiar.

“He knew them,” said Shelton, “because he is a hairdresser and cuts his hair.”

A judge then approved Shelton’s request for mandate to search their homes, about 1,000 feet from the place where the victim lived.

“Basically, a neighbor, do you know?” Said Shelton.

Research has managed to access any of the jewelry or shoes, he said.

But fortune – and perhaps the ego – smiled at the investigation.

A man came out of an apartment nearby and recorded the search on a live Instagram program, “just going up the absurdities against the police,” said Shelton. The man also admitted during the broadcast that he “hit a lick last night”, the criminal jargon for having succeeded in a flight or a burglary, said Shelton.

The police were not the only one to have noticed the man: the girlfriend of the victim of burglary also saw the Instagram video. She called 911 when she spotted man carrying what she thought was the rolex necklace caught in burglary.

Why would a man draw such attention to himself?

“In a strange way, it’s a bit like brainwashing. Many people do things for attention,” said Shelton.

The police arrested the man, although the police do not yet know if he was one of the burglars, said Shelton. The hunt for other suspects and stolen property continues.

Many patrol officers of the Petit Police Service of Hemet Investigating the crimes begin to finish as the detectives would, said Shelton, adding that some later became investigators from the District Prosecutor’s Office of the County of Riverside.

Shelton said that some criminals underestimate the force, which has just under 80, including those who wear stars, bars or scratches on their uniform. In comparison, the Riverside police service has nearly 400 officers.

“You will not always be able to recover everything,” said Shelton, 32, who joined the department in October. But Shelton said he thought that the investigations that led to search mandates have often made the criminals in opinion that “you can try these crimes, but you are not going to get away with them.”

From January 2024 to June 2024, the most recent period for which HEMET police statistics are available, real estate crimes decreased by around 24%, the flight of motor vehicles was almost half reduced, thefts were reduced by 19% and the arrests increased by around 19% over the same period in 2023, according to the mid-year report of the ministry.

“Each officer is beyond his work,” said Shelton. “It’s our bread and our butter and what we are proud of.”