LIVE OAK, Texas — Police have arrested a suspected thief who they say stole a city-installed game camera in Del Rio before unknowingly transmitting images of himself through the device.
Del Rio Police collaborated with local area law enforcement in Live Oak to identify the suspect.
Officials say the camera was still sending images to the police department. It's believed the suspect was unaware.
"Code Enforcement called me and told me that the pictures were being transmitted," Lt. Jesse Barela from the Live Oak Police Department told KENS 5. "So they sent me a picture of the suspect. So I put an email out with us and other agencies and we were able to identify the suspect."
They sent KENS 5 just a few of the pictures that were posted online. In them, a man is seen in a bed with the name Martinez tattooed on his arm, along with a woman in one of the pictures. The pictures, combined with Facebook posts from several police departments, is how Live Oak Police were able to identify the male suspect.
"The pictures are of two subjects in a bedroom," Lt. Barela added. "So one of the suspects has his tattoos tattooed all over the place on his arms, neck. And we were able to get him identified through the tattoos."
Code Enforcement had placed the game camera at 10800 O'Connor Road. When the camera was stolen they immediately contacted Live Oak PD.
"What I did is I put an email out to the guys here, and then we also posted on Facebook where we work closely with other agencies, and they went ahead to put up post for us," Lt. Barela said. "When they put up the post we got a hit saying that the suspect was identified."
Live Oak police were the ones searching for the suspect but they tell us it was actually the San Antonio Police Department
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