A man from Washington state, Anthony Akers, aged 38, became the focus of a police search after breaching the terms of his probation.
The Department of Corrections issued a warrant for his arrest due to failure to comply with court orders related to possession of a controlled substance charge.
In a peculiar twist of events, Akers entered into an exchange lasting nearly a week with Cerise Peck, the Crime Prevention Specialist at the Richland Police Department, through the comments section of a Facebook post concerning him.
Although wanted by authorities, Akers initially responded to the department’s post with a casual remark, stating he would turn himself in.
Peck explained that Aker’s warrant was issued because he failed to comply with his court-mandated obligations. The department shared Akers’ photo on November 28, along with the announcement of his status as a wanted individual.
Several days later, the department reached out to Akers, reminding him of their operating hours and extending an offer of assistance.
The post said, “Hey Anthony! We haven’t seen you yet. Our business hours are 8am to 5pm Monday-Friday. Of course, if you need a ride, you can call on non-emergency (509-628-0333), and we will pick you up.
In response, Akers expressed gratitude towards the police department and mentioned,
“Thank you, tying up a couple of loose ends since I will probably be there for a month should be there in the next 48 hours.”
Again, on Monday, the police department had to comment because Akers did not report after 48 hours, posting,
“I obviously have commitment issues. I apologize for standing you up. But let me make it up to you. I will be there no later than lunchtime tomorrow, I know you have no reason to believe me after what I did to you, but I promise if I don’t make it my own by lunchtime tomorrow, I will call for a ride to assist me with my commitment issues…”
By Wednesday, Akers had surrendered himself and was in police custody. In a surprising turn, he shared a selfie from the police station in the comments section of the post and as of now, Akers remains in jail.
Peck, speaking to NBC News, noted that this was the first instance of a wanted individual reaching out to the department via social media.
“Sometimes we will see folks tag the wanted person in our post, but we don’t ever get the wanted person replying,” she said.
