Mesa Police Arrest "YouTube" Bandit
December 26, 2007
On
December 26, 2007 at 12:20 a.m., the Mesa Police Department
arrested 35-year-old Michael L. Adams of Mesa for shoplifting
and trafficking in stolen property.
Many of you remember the November 1 and November 3 shoplifting
investigations involving the theft of watches from a north Mesa
cigar store located in the Riverview shopping center. At the
time of the incidents the owner of the store posted the
surveillance footage on the video sharing and publishing website
known as YouTube in order to positively identify the suspect.
Investigators were able to trace one of the stolen watches to a
west Mesa pawnshop. Adams was identified as the suspect after it
was discovered that he provided his identification to the
pawnshop employees at the time he pawned the watch. Adams was
also positively identified as the shoplifting suspect who took
the watches from the cigar store.
Investigators apprehended Adams in a central Mesa residence.
During a post-Miranda interview, Adams admitted to the crimes.
Adams was booked on two counts of shoplifting and one count of
trafficking in stolen property. As of this writing the bond
amount and release status is unknown.