Fugitive plays hard to get on social media
A man in Washington left everyone shocked and amused when he casually told police who were searching for him on Facebook to "calm down".
These days, social media is an important and useful part of the daily operations of many businesses and government institutions. In South Africa, you can check Twitter for updates on loadshedding and in the United States you can keep up to date with your local police department's activities via Facebook.
Residents of Richland, Washington were surprised and amused to see just how far communication on social media can go when a fugitive left an interesting comment below a photo on the police department's Facebook post last week.
The Richland Police posted a "Wanted" notice for a 38-year-old man named Anthony Akers, saying anyone who had information about his whereabouts should call the station. The notice stated Akers was wanted for "failure to comply". The post is part of a series that the Richland Police run called "Wanted Wednesday", in which they call on the public to help them close cases.
This time, the people of Richland did not have to work very hard because Akers responded to the post himself. Apparently, he just needed the police to be a bit more patient with him.
Akers may be a man of questionable behaviour (he is not in the station's good books, after all) but it seems he doesn't believe there is ever an excuse for the police to be this dramatic.
The social media interaction between Akers and the police got even stranger when they responded to him saying they have been waiting for him and advising him to just say the word if he needs a ride to the police station. Who knew police could be so hospitable?
Akers claimed that he was just trying to get his affairs in order before his month-long stint in jail, and proceeded to let the police know what time would be most convenient for him to come to the station. It sounded more like he was arranging a hotel stay than preparing to pay his debt to society.
People in the comments section waited patiently to see how things would turn out and they were not disappointed. When the police continued to chase Akers, asking him if they had done something to chase him away. Akers responded in kind, giving them the old "it's not you, it's me":
It took some more time before Akers finally showed up to the police station. He knew that many people were invested in the ending of the story so he posted a photo saying he was ready for their "date".
He thanked the police for "letting him do this on his own".
He was days late and didn't even bring a gift to make up for it, but hopefully that won't affect the quality of his time in jail.