DEL NORTE— Only in a small town would a wanted criminal comment on his own warrant post on Facebook. “Criminals do some of the craziest things, but this was one of those moments where you say, only in Del Norte,” stated Police Chief Robert Fresquez. “We have a limited amount of resources, so we use what we can which entails social media to get the word out on wanted individual.”

Though their efforts to catch a wanted criminal did not pay off as of yet, it did spark an unusual and mostly unheard-of communication between the suspect and the police department. Officer Cassandra Sahagun was behind the scenes of a recent Facebook post that notified the public of wanted criminal Trishtin Brown. The department posted his picture and information pertaining to his last known location in the Del Norte area in hopes of catching the suspect and bringing him into custody.

Brown is wanted for warrants out of Rio Grande County for the possession of a controlled substance. “These guys just don’t learn. They get out and go right back to doing what they did to get in trouble in the first place,” said Fresquez. What the department and Officer Sahagun did not expect, was for Brown to comment on the post.

The post was shared hundreds of times and through the miracles of social media, Brown was made aware of the post and commented. This sparked a huge response from the public and the department who kindly asked if Brown would be willing to turn himself in. Brown did not respond to the request and is still at large. What it did do though, was notify the public that efforts by the Del Norte Police Department are beginning to pay off.

The town has been plagued by thefts and other crimes in the past two years, bringing the community together to stage a fight against those who are responsible. South Fork Police Chief Don McDonald

commented on the Facebook incident stating, “What it shows is that the department and the officers are actively doing something to bring these guys in.”

The social media interaction even landed the department on 9News with a highlight done by Journalist Kyle Clark. “It was great to get the recognition, but the community needs to be aware that Brown is still at large. We plan to continue to use the Facebook page for wanted individuals and to notify the public of pending cases,” stated Fresquez. Officer Sahagun was not available for comment.