After trying to avoid an arrest warrant, Jason Valdez found himself holding a girl hostage in a Salt Lake City hotel. In the midst of a 16-hour standoff with police, he managed to drop six updates and add 12 friends on Facebook, no big deal.
According to the AP, Valdez said the girl was with him willingly. His first Facebook post was hardly a cheerful one:
“I’m currently in a standoff … kinda ugly, but ready for whatever,” Valdez wrote in his first post at 11:23 p.m. “I love u guyz and if I don’t make it out of here alive that I’m in a better place and u were all great friends.”
He was even getting lookout tips from friends via Facebook:
He even got some help from the outside over the social network: A friend posted that a SWAT officer was hiding in the bushes.
“Thank you homie,” Valdez replied. “Good looking out.”
Adding an interesting twist to the story is that the police now want to prosecute those friends for aiding and abetting. But things took a dark twist when police finally stormed the room and Valdez shot himself in the chest. He’s currently in critical condition.
And maybe it’s just me, but if for whatever reason I lost my mind and got wrapped up in a hostage standoff with police, dropping status updates on Facebook would be the last thing on my mind. Then again, I would have lost my mind, thus eliminating all logical thought. [AP]