Snapchat leads to downfall of ‘cocky’ criminal hiding in cabinet

Christopher Wallace (Somerset County Sheriff's Office)

Christopher Wallace (Somerset County Sheriff’s Office)

He may not have checked in from a cabinet on Snapchat exactly, but posting his location to the social media app is what led to the arrest of burglary suspect Christopher Wallace. Police found him because he posted from within his hiding place.

Wallace, 24, was suspected of burgling a Maine sporting camp in
mid-January, Somerset County Chief Deputy James Ross said. Police
asked the public for help finding him at the end of February.

Christopher Wallace was previously arrested in Somerset County (Somerset County Sheriff's Office)

By Sunday, Wallace “had become cocky. Which led to his
downfall,”
the Somerset County Sheriff’s Office said in a
Facebook post.

He had used Snapchat to post that he was at his house in
Fairfield, which prompted members of the public to call the
police to let them know of his whereabouts. The sheriff’s office
sent two officers, who were joined by two more from the Fairfield
Police Department.

The law enforcement agents were given permission to search the
home, to no avail.

“Here’s where things went bad for him…While the
deputies/officers were wrapping up their search, Wallace posted
again on Snapchat,”
the sheriff’s office wrote. “This
time he posted that the police were searching for him in the
house, and that he was hiding in a cabinet.”

The officers restarted their quest.

“A search of the kitchen cabinets turned up some food, some
pots and pans, and also a pair of feet,”
the sheriff’s
office said. “The pair of feet just so happened to be
attached to a person, and that person was Christopher Wallace. He
was removed from the cabinet, and placed under arrest.”

Wallace was charged with burglary, theft and violation of
administrative release arrest warrants.

Erika Hall (Somerset County Sheriff's Office)

However, he wasn’t the only person arrested on Sunday. Erika
Hall, who gave the officers permission to search the house, was
arrested for hindering apprehension “because…well…let’s
put it this way, when the police ask you multiple times if
someone is in the house, and you answer repeatedly that they are
not in the house, and that you have not seen said person in
‘weeks’, you’re just going to get arrested. That’s how it
happens.”

Wallace was wanted for burglary and theft after still photos from
a game camera showed him at a camp from which a propane cook
stove and a cast iron wood stove were stolen. The incident
occurred on January 15, police said. Forest Ranger Shane Nichols
discovered the evidence and notified the sheriff’s office while
investigating a fuel theft in the same location that wasn’t
related to the stove thefts.

Police were then able to obtain a search warrant for Wallace’s
home, where they recovered the stolen stoves, the sheriff’s
office said.

The department told the Morning Sentinel that its Facebook page
has led to half a dozen arrests, as well as helping connect with
the community.

“The Facebook page has proved to be an excellent tool in
communicating with the public and has allowed public
participation in some of these harder to solve cases,”
Ross
said.

The sheriff’s office pointed out that Wallace would have gotten
away with it, too, if it weren’t for that meddling Snapchat app.

“All of that, brings me to the moral of the story,” the
department said in the Facebook post. “Always remain humble,
my friends.”

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