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Dec. 7, 2018 / 6:54 PM GMT
By Minyvonne Burke
A Washington state man wanted by police for violating his probation taunted officers for almost a week by chatting with them in the comments section of a post about him on their Facebook page.
Anthony Akers, 38, was wanted by the state’s Department of Corrections. Richland Police Department Crime prevention specialist Cerise Peck, who was the one talking back and forth with Akers, said he was originally charged with possession of a controlled substance.
A warrant was issued for him because Akers was “not doing what he was court ordered to do,” Peck said.
On Nov. 28, the department shared Akers’ picture writing that he was a wanted man. Surprisingly, one of the first comments on the post was from Akers himself.
“Calm down, im (sic) going to turn myself in,” he wrote.
The department responded a few days later telling Akers the hours they are open.
“Hey Anthony! We haven’t seen you yet,” the post read. “Of course if you need a ride you can call non-emergency and we will pick you up.”
In turn, Akers thanked the police department and said he had “a couple loose ends” to tie up before he stopped by the department.
On Tuesday, Akers continued his conversation with police saying he had not yet surrendered because of “commitment issues.”
“I apologize for standing you up, but let me make it up to you. I will be there no later then lunchtime tomorrow, I know you have no reason to believe me after what i did to you, but I promise that if i dont make it on my own by lunchtime tomorrow I will call for a ride to assist me with my commitment issues,” he wrote.
By Wednesday, Akers was in police custody. In the comments section of the post, he shared a selfie of himself at the police station.
“Pushing the button, yes a bit later then planned but here and going in. Thank you RPD for letting me do this on my own. See you in a month,” he wrote.
Peck told NBC News that this was the first time a wanted person had reached out to the department via social media.
“Sometimes we will see folks tag the wanted person in our post but we don’t ever get the wanted person replying,” she said.
Peck is currently still in jail.