He was right.
A Brooklyn captain who took heat after he used his Twitter account to warn the public about recently released parolees and career criminals was on to something—two crooks he tweeted about were recently cuffed again for crimes in Brooklyn.
Captain Jeffrey Schiff, the commanding officer of the 76th precinct, which includes Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, and Red Hook, tweeted about the release of parolee Eduardo Guzman, as well as a suspect wanted for grand larceny in his command.
Guzman, 40, of Bedford-Stuyvesant, was arrested on Jan. 24 after a cop spotted him strolling down Second Place near Second Street with a shopping cart and swiping packages from different buildings.
“He was actually shopping on Second Place,” Schiff joked at a recent 76th precinct community council meeting.
Although not all of the items on Guzman could be linked back to their owners, one package of women’s garments wrapped in plastic was addressed to a woman on that block, according to court papers.
Schiff used his handle @76PrecinctNYPD to put out a release alert after Guzman was paroled in August on an attempted burglary charge. “EDUARDO GUZMAN has just been paroled. Past convictions: BURGLARY, Larceny, Drugs, and Stolen Property,” he tweeted.
Despite the collar, Guzman is already back on the streets after he was charged with petit larceny, as well as criminal possession of stolen property, records show.
Schiff had also tweeted about Efrain Gauthier, a Red Hook suspect who was wanted on a bench warrant for grand larceny. Gauthier is well known to the NYPD- although only 24, he’s racked up more than 40 prior arrests.
Gauthier had pled guilty to stealing from a car, as well as resisting arrest, on Oct. 7—but didn’t show up to his sentencing on Dec. 19.
He was arrested on Jan. 24 after a plainclothes officer spotted him bicycling quickly down the sidewalk of 8th Avenue and 70th Street, while allegedly wheeling a second bike.
When the cop tried to stop him, he threw one bike to the ground, and allegedly tried to flee on the other.
When the officer blocked him with his car, he tried to escape on foot—but the police nabbed him. After running his name, cops realized he was wanted on the warrant. They also found a pipe with crack cocaine and a hypodermic needle in his bag, according to court papers.
Gauthier allegedly told cops that they were the leftovers from the day before, when he was shooting up heroin, court papers stated.
He was charged with disorderly conduct, criminally possession of a hypodermic instrument, possession of burglar’s tools, and operating a bicycle on the sidewalk. Gauthier is currently being held on Riker’s Island.
“I think the arrests are terrific. It goes back to alerting the community to what’s going on, and it’s a good thing,” said Jerry Armer, president of the community council, and a fan of the captain’s twitter feed. “I think the police department will eventually adopt the use of social media in an interactive way.”