Social Media Sharing Praised As Alleged Wig-Wearing Thief Caught

TOMS RIVER, NJ — Toms River police thanked social media users on Friday in the wake of the arrest of an Arizona woman who was wanted in a string of fraud attempts.

Brooke B. Slade, 43, from Arizona, was arrested Thursday afternoon in Asbury Park. She was identified after teller at a PNC Bank recognized her from photos as the woman wanted in connection with trying to cash stolen checks, Asbury Park Sgt. Michael Casey said late Thursday.

The arrest followed postings by both Toms River and Wall Township police on social media about the case.

Ralph Stocco, spokesman for the Toms River Police Department, said the Toms River posts — they first posted about the woman on Tuesday — were viewed 436,000 times combined.

"An alert bank teller recognized the woman from a saturation of police social media posts and cooperation from news organizations that publicized the investigation," Stocco said. "Social media is a powerful outlet that has developed into a valuable law enforcement tool."

"We want to take a moment and sincerely thank everyone who helped share our posts far and wide," Stocco said. "We cannot be omnipresent in our policing and we value the efforts of citizen crime fighters who take the time to get involved, even if it is for a brief moment to like and share our posts. Your efforts have been successful time and time again in the apprehension of people determined to take advantage of innocent, hard-working citizens."

"An additional thank you goes out to the Asbury Park, Wall, Howell, and other agencies that helped put all of this together to bring this woman into custody," Stocco said.

Asbury Park police charged Slade with eluding, two counts of receiving stolen property, possession of a controlled dangerous substance (an unspecified amount of Xanax), and trespassing, and with motor vehicle violations for reckless driving, driving without a license, two counts of failure to stop for a stop sign, fictitious plates, failure to signal and failure to maintain lane, Casey said.

Stocco said Toms River police will charge Slade in the incidents that occurred in Toms River, including the car burglaries at Riverwood Park and any incidents that happened at banks in Toms River.

"Each other town she either stole from or went to banks in will file their own charges," he said. It is possible the case will go to Superior Court instead of being handled at the municipal court level, where smaller fraud cases often are handled, he said.

"It will take some time to sort it out," Stocco said.

You can read more about the arrest here: Alleged Wig-Wearing Check Casher Caught, Police Say

Photos provided by Toms River and Wall Township police