Alleged burglar thwarted by his own social media profile

Grant County Sheriff’s Office/courtesy image

by Emry Dinman Staff Writer
| January 4, 2019 2:00 AM

MOSES LAKE — A bit of Facebook sleuthing by the Grant County Sheriff’s Office led to the arrest Monday of a Moses Lake man suspected of burglary and robbery.

Grant County Sheriff’s deputies arrested 27-year-old Luis Hernandez Santa Cruz of Moses Lake on suspicion of at least two burglaries and a robbery in the Larson-North Moses Lake community, according to a press release.

After hearing the name Luis used in association with the crimes, deputies turned their attention to Santa Cruz. Deputies later received a tip that Santa Cruz’ Facebook profile photo closely matched images caught on a surveillance camera at a burglarized home. Though Santa Cruz’ Facebook profile is private, his profile photo, uploaded July 2018, is public. No matter what privacy settings are chosen by a user of the social media site, Facebook profile photos are always public.

Further investigation connected Santa Cruz to additional unsolved crimes and he was arrested Monday morning, according to a press release. He is currently being held in the Grant County Jail on suspicion of burglary and robbery.

Emry Dinman can be reached via email at edinman@columbiabasinherald.com.