Hospitality Industry Crime Solutions: Alaska Restaurant Uses “Facebook Posting” To Track Down Thieves Who Broke Into Company Freezer

“…In Facebook postings that began Saturday morning, the owner of Kriner’s Diner said they had surveillance camera footage of a car and at least two suspects who, the diner’s owner alleges, broke into the company freezer just before 5 a.m. Saturday…Once the pictures hit the web, they spread rapidly online. The operator of the diner’s page said just one picture was shared nearly 48,000 times within 24 hours of being posted…”

The owners of a Midtown restaurant are crediting social media with helping nab the suspects who stole meat from the company freezer. The payoff came Sunday, just after noon, when Kriner’s Diner updated its Facebook page, writing that “Facebook friends” had spotted the car in question and called the police, resulting in an arrest.

It’s a call the restaurant’s owner said wouldn’t have happened without the postings on social media.

“I had mentioned what had happened on my page, and you know, tips just started pouring in and people wanted to help,” Andy Kriner said Monday. “I posted it on our Kriner’s Facebook page and within 30 hours, they were in custody.”

Kriner said he uses the social network often, posting specials and other information about his restaurant, but never before had he used it like this.

“An average post of mine has 1,500 views, and I have a lot of people go on there day to day just to look at our lunch specials,” he said. “I think that this probably had a lot to do with it.”

Kriner said he couldn’t comment on the details of the still-active investigation—he declined to disclose just how much meat or what other products were stolen, nor how many suspects had been arrested—but he said the postings on Facebook played a vital role making the arrest.

For more:  http://www.ktva.com/home/outbound-xml-feeds/Facebook-Helps-Nab-Suspect-in-Freezer-Theft-209112041.html