14 DAY TRIAL // Facebook's "People you may know" section unintentionally helped a victim recognize her car robber, and her tip helped police apprehend the crook.
The robber's name is Omar Famuyide, and UK authorities say that, on July 13, 2015, he burst into one of Ambassador’s Relaxation Suites together with an accomplice and threatened a group of women with a handgun and a metal bar.
The two fled the suite empty handed, but Famuyide's crime spree didn't stop there, and on August 11, the crook walked up to a man in Southacre Avenue in Highgate and stole the man's BMW car keys while holding a gun to his head.
Famuyide abandoned the car two days later and left behind his gun, which police tied to a bullet shot inside the Ambassador’s Relaxation Suite.
One of the victims spots the crook on Facebook
A few days later, a person came to the police saying she recognized the person who stole her Seat Leon after threatening her with a knife. The woman claimed she saw the criminal while browsing through Facebook, and ironically, his picture came up in the "People you may know" section.
Police then tracked down Famuyide, who, instead of giving up, fled from a PC he was using in the city center, discarding a knife and phone.
Officers arrested the robber after a short chase, and after searching his house, they also found other clues to tie him to all the previous crimes.
Famuyide, age 21, of Wrentham Street, Highgate, was charged and faced trial this spring. A judged from the Birmingham Crown Court sentenced the crook to a 17-year prison sentence.
"It was a crucial part of the investigation when one of the victims got in touch after recognising Famuyide on Facebook and was the final piece of the jigsaw that we were looking for," Rhiannon Daff, from Birmingham Police, said.