DORVAL – Arturo Meriales can’t believe the length thieves went to break into the pizza shop he works at.
Early Monday morning, three burglars allegedly busted down part of a wall of a Domino’s outlet in Dorval.
Once inside, they ransacked the store and made off with about $150.
What the crooks probably didn’t realize was that their every move was caught on tape.
A few hours after the robbery, store owner Lucian Iliescu turned to Facebook.
He posted several stills of the surveillance footage.
“We decided to put on Facebook to create awareness, to let other people know what is happening,” says Iliescu.
“Maybe we can catch the guys.”
Iliescu did call police but he says the response he’s received on social media is “impressive”.
A few weeks ago, another West Island merchant did the same thing.
The owner of Ted’s Hobby Shop in Pointe-Claire posted the photo of a suspect he claims robbed a $600 quad-copter drone.
Montreal Police spokesperson Laurent Gingras says he understands the frustration of victims, but adds the force discourages the move to Facebook.
“Unfortunately police officers will not patrol the web and grab new information from social media,” says Gingras.
“We might be missing out on critical information that could lead to an arrest.”
Digital marketing expert Mitch Joel sees another problem: possible lawsuits.
“There’s nothing stopping this person if they’re found not guilty to sue for damages,” says Joel.
“We have to be careful of that, bloggers have been sued for defamation of character.”
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