Chance and Facebook posts help nab suspect

Serendipitous communication between bi-county law enforcement officials through their Facebook pages helped nab a suspected criminal in record time this week.

Darrell Dwayne Smith, who faced felony burglary charges in Lake County four days after he committed his alleged crimes, was caught on video and identified after a fellow law enforcement agency posted his photo on Facebook.

Lake County Sheriff Don Bell said that after getting off work and going home for the night, he checked into his Facebook account where he happened to see a post warning the public that Smith was headed into Lake County.

Bell recognized the stolen van Smith was seen driving, called his professional friends and alerted his crew, who shortly thereafter, along with the help of their Rollins Lake Road burglary victims, arrested Smith in Ronan.

Smith’s fast escort through the court system was mainly a matter of good timing, Bell said.