"Wanted" man mocks cops for "missing person" post on Facebook, gets arrested
When a man goes missing, the last thing anyone expects is for him to go online and criticize cops who are looking for him. That is exactly what 21-year-old Leon Smith did. After West Yorkshire Police launched an appeal on social media to find the youth who they alleged had gone missing from the Wheatley area of Halifax, Smith commented on the post saying he was actually "wanted" by the cops and was not "missing" as the post claimed.
Police officers said in a post on Sunday that they were "concerned" for Smith . The authorities urged people to get in touch with them if they had any information relating to his whereabouts, according to a report by the Sun.
“Police are concerned for 21-year-old Leon SMITH, who has been reported missing from the Wheatley area of Halifax,” the post read. “Leon is described as White Male, Medium Build, Blonde hair last seen wearing Black Tracksuit, Blue T-shirt and black trainers."
The Facebook post reportedly received dozens of sad reacts before receiving a comment from the missing man himself.
Smith commented on the post claiming that he was actually wanted by the police and was not missing. He claimed that the authorities were not “concerned” about anything other than putting him in jail. He then told the police to "Come do ya job".
Smith, who was reportedly on the run for an undisclosed crime, was arrested hours after the post.
West Yorkshire Police confirmed that Smith had indeed been found in a thank-you post to the public. The police said: "Leon has been found. A huge amount of police resources were expended to find this male. The police have a duty of care to protect the lives of the Queen's subjects."
"On this occasion, for reasons we cannot disclose, we had great concerns for the well-being and safety of Leon. We can also confirm Leon is in custody for a substantive offence which we cannot comment further on. Your help and support brought this incident to a safe, speedy conclusion. Thank you."
Facebook users soon flooded the comments section with jokes about the ridiculous situation. Others pointed out that the post misled the public and that the case showed an unnecessary expenditure of public money. Some of the comments, presumably from people who know Smith personally, suggest that a helicopter was deployed to find the youth.
One of the comments said that the police went around looking for Smith while allegedly claiming that he was suspected of indulging in self-harm. The actual reason why the authorities were looking for the youth has not yet been revealed. Smith was reportedly evading the police, though the comments online were probably a dead giveaway.