Facebook file: March 21/ catching burglars and a bigamist
Facebook, the extra arm of the law, has caught out a bigamist and put a bunch of armed thugs to flight.
* A 34-year-old man has been charged with polygamy after his wife - they were still married but separated - found wedding pictures of a new, happy couple on hubby's Facebook page. Adina Quarto felt spurned when Richard Leon Barton defriended her on Facebook - and she checked out his Facebook page to find out what was going on. Once she saw the pictures, she contacted police to figure out what she should do. Barton lives in Michigan, where polygamy (Brits would call it bigamy) carries a prison sentence of up to four years.
* When armed burglars broke into his home in Bartow County, Georgia, and tied up his 17-year-old sister and grandmother, student Nitesh Bhakta, 20, was in bed. He grabbed his laptop, ran to the attic and hid. He then posted on Facebook, "Someone please call 911, no phone, hiding in my house, robbery." His best friend immediately responded, 'Are you kidding?" Bhakta said , "No just do it." The friend called police, who raced to the house and nabbed one suspect. Two or three others got away. "Facebook was like the only thing where I knew I could reach someone instantly that was on chat," Bhakta said.