Facebook Photo Leads Cops to Texas Bank Robber
People use Facebook for the most random things. And for police, a Facebook photo of a bank robber can lead to an identification. Jazzmyne Dunlap, 21, learned this the hard way in Texas.
Dunlap has been indicted on bank robbery charges from a robbery that took place at a Wells Fargo in Haltom City, reports The Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
The robbery took place on April 19th. Allegedly, the robber handed the teller a note that said she had a gun and that the teller needed to give her all of the money, otherwise she would shoot, the Star-Telegram reports.
The suspect was described as an African American woman, around 5 feet 6 inches tall, wearing a long-sleeved blue sweatshirt that read SPDENIM on the front, reports the Star-Telegram.
Guess what was in Jazzmyne Dunlap's Facebook photo album? A photograph of her wearing a blue long-sleeved shirt that says SPDENIM on the front, reports the Star-Telegram.
The Facebook photo wasn't the only piece of evidence against Dunlap. During an earlier robbery, she had actually run from the bank to a nearby day care center a block away from the bank. There, she shed her clothes, leaving them behind in the bushes before fleeing the scene. The DNA on the clothes was then processed, reports the Star-Telegram.
Dunlap is being charged in federal court, reports the Star-Telegram. While most criminal statutes are state-specific, and therefore most crimes are tried in state court, there are some crimes that are federal crimes.
Robbing a bank whose deposits are insured by a federal agency is one of them. Dunlap likely triggered federal court jurisdiction by committing robbery on a bank like Wells Fargo, which is likely insured by a federal agency.
For Facebook photo bank robber (and clothes-shedder bank robber) Jazzmyne Dunlap, a trial will likely be in her near future. She already has two prior convictions for theft of property and another conviction for auto burglary, reports the Star-Telegram.
Related Resources:
- DNA on Discarded Clothing and Facebook Photo of Bank Robbery Suspect Lead Police to Her (ABA Journal)
- Federal vs. State Courts - Key Differences (FindLaw)
- Facebook Burglar Posts His Photo on Victim's Facebook Wall (FindLaw's Legally Weird)
- Facebook Post as Alibi: Teenager's Facebook Status Saves Him (FindLaw's Legally Weird)