Monday, January 13, 2014

The Power of Social Media: How Facebook Helped Solve a Crime

I watched a local news segment on Saturday night about a local businesswoman in Sacramento, Calif. who sells hand crafted artisanal ice cream (Popcycle Creamery) and how her custom bike was stolen, despite it being locked up in a secure location. It was disheartening as the bicycle is used as part of her cart/business, and I felt so bad for her (since this is how she generates her income). One of my friends posted on Facebook to keep an eye out for her bike, and even though I don't live in Sacramento anymore I wanted to follow the story and show my support.

There's a happy ending to her story as her bike was recovered yesterday (luckily, with minimal damage and it's still in good shape to ride) - THANKS to the power of social media and local Sacramento law enforcement!

When you start to become frustrated with social media and think it's a waste of time, think again. Because of social media, a crime was solved and this woman can now return to selling her yummy ice cream.

This is from Popcycle Creamery's Facebook page:

"Good morning POP peeps! I just want to send a special thanks to CBS Sacramento and Sacramento Police Department for their vital roles in recovering my POPcycle!

On Sunday afternoon, 2 officers were in the Del Paso Heights neighborhood taking care of business and one of the officers spotted the POPcycle sitting abandoned in an alley. He recognized the bike from the news segment done on Saturday evening. The other officer recognized it from a Facebook post Cross Fit West Sac on Saturday. The power of social media - wowza!

The thief gave her a few bumps and bruises -- they took the pedals, the seat, the lights, cup holder -- but otherwise the POPcycle is in good shape and will be happy to get a little cosmetic make over on these few items. I am just so thankful that the bike itself was not damaged. She will be getting a good bath and should be rolling soon -- for now she is taking a little rest in a secure undisclosed location,

Although the experience of having it stolen was a bummer -- the amount of love, support and sharing of my story has far outweighed the sadness I felt upon discovering my girl was gone. THANK YOU! Keep on pedalin' - never give up!

p.s. for some reason the post won't let me tag CBS, Sac PD or Cross Fit West Sac - you all have ice cream on the house coming at you!" 


1 comment:

  1. I just love happy endings! So happy to hear that her bike was returned. Thank you for the positive spin on Social Media!

    ReplyDelete

Therese Pope, Copywriter/Content Developer & Digital Buzz-icist

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