Facebook Post Prompts Mom to Turn in Son, Cops Say

A Casselberry woman got quite a shock recently while surfing Facebook posts.

It seems her 18-year-old son was rather recognizable in a particular post that caught her attention. Two photos of the teen were displayed inside a wanted poster added to the Casselberry Police Department’s page.

The poster was created in an attempt to solve a Jan. 31 shoplifting incident at the Casselberry Target. The person pictured, the wanted poster stated, was accused of swiping seven PlayStation 4 controllers and two Xbox One controllers valued at $670.

Anyone who recognized the person in the poster was asked to call the police department.

And, that’s exactly what the mom did, according to WFTV.com.

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Police told the news station the mom called them and identified the person they were looking for as her son. Sure enough, when police answered the call to see if the woman’s son and the wanted suspect were one in the same, Joel Brown, 18, was wearing the exact same sweatshirt pictured in the Target surveillance photos, the station reported.

Brown was charged with retail theft early Wednesday morning. He was being held in the Seminole County Jail in lieu of $2,000 bond, according to jail records.

As for the Casselberry Police Department, it added a follow up post to its Facebook page Wednesday morning. It was the same wanted poster altered with the words “Cancel-Arrest Made” stamped across the images.

Photo Credit: Wanted poster courtesy of the Casselberry Police Department/Joel Brown booking photo courtesy of the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office

OK, parents, how would you have handled this situation? Tell us by commenting below!

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