Alleged Burglars Arrested After Victims Find Their Stolen Items on Facebook Marketplace

Two alleged burglars from Tennessee are in prison after police say their victims discovered their stolen items listed on Facebook Marketplace.

Joe Snipes, 25, and Brandon Frye, 21, were arrested and charged with theft and aggravated burglary for allegedly breaking into a Memphis home Saturday and stealing a television, laptops, and an Xbox console, the Daily Mail reported.

The victims of the burglary, who only identified themselves to the media as “Kris” and “Ran,” said they found their home had been ransacked after coming back from a shopping trip that day with their young children.

The couple immediately noticed that their flat-screen TV, Xbox video game console, and laptops were missing from the house.

Kris and Ran notified police of the burglary but never thought they would find their possessions again. That changed when Ran logged into his Facebook account and noticed a familiar-looking item on Facebook Marketplace, the social media site’s feature where users can buy items listed for sale in their area.

“The picture was the TV,” Ran told WREG. “It had my Xbox hooked up to it and when you sign into Xbox, you have to use your username; my username was still on the screen.”

Kris decided to contact the suspected robber, who listed her belongings to get the information she could give to police.

The Marketplace user allegedly told Kris that he would sell the TV back to her for double the original price. The couple agreed to meet at a Walmart gas station in Memphis to carry out the transaction and looped in law enforcement officials so they could intervene at the right time.

Once the suspects showed up and notified Kris they arrived, she passed on that information to police waiting nearby, who stepped in and arrested the alleged burglars at the gas station.

Snipes is being held on $30,000 bond, while Frye’s bond was set at $20,000. Both men have a history of run-ins with the law.

Other criminals have used Facebook Marketplace to sell their stolen goods for a profit. For example, in 2015, an Oregon man allegedly broke into a house and listed the items he stole on Facebook Marketplace the following day. Deputies arrested the suspect after finding a listing of the stolen items for sale on Facebook Marketplace and returned the stolen items to the victims.