North Augusta Bank Robbery MySpace Confession Arrest

North Augusta, SC—It’s this popular social networking site that helped federal authorities nab an alleged bank robber.

Winston D. Holliday, Assistant US Attorney, Columbia, SC: “I guess they feel they figure there friends will be the only ones to look at it. And certainly, I don’t think Mr. Northington would suspect law enforcement using his MySpace page.”

Investigators say, on Inauguration Day, 27-year-old Joseph Northington robbed a Security Federal Bank, in North Augusta, at gunpoint. He got away with about $4,000 and went back to Virginia. But, he couldn’t hide. Thats because authorities say Northington later bragged about the robbery on his MySpace page.

Winston D. Holliday: “I never had that happen before, and was amazed that he would basically say he was on the run for robbing a bank, and put it on a publicly accessible site.”

For bank account holders, like John Delgenio, this case just made no sense.

John Delgenio: “First of all, it’s hilarious. Why are you going to broadcast on the internet that you were the one who robbed the bank and, especially considering the stuff’s in your name, your e-mail address…that’s pretty ridiculous.”

After releasing surveillance photos, authorities received a tip from one of Northington’s friends. This lead them to Northington’s MySpace account, and from there they were able to collect enough evidence to take him in. Authorities say social networking sites like MySpace are helping them crack cases.

Winston D. Holliday: “I’ve had at least another case where we used a photo off a MySpace page. Because there is so much networking going on these sites, people are linking their photos their pages to other people that they know.“

Northington faces a minimum of seven years in prison, and a fine of $250,000.