“I’m appalled. Where’s my costume?” he asked. Police answered.
He wouldn’t be the first fugitive to try to fool police with a disguise — but he might be the first to ask them for one.
A fugitive in Illinois handed himself in after cops agreed to Photoshop a costume onto his wanted poster.
Kankakee County Sheriff’s Department appealed to the public looking for 25-year-old Brandon W. Conti, who was wanted for allegedly driving under the influence of alcohol, and posted the notice on Facebook.
Conti himself appeared in the comments section, with a very odd request.
"I’m appalled," he wrote. "Where’s my costume?"
Odder still, the sheriff’s department complied: they altered the mugshot by giving him a sailor’s suit, complete with a hat that read "Ahoy".
"Done! We held up our end of the bargain," the officer replied on Facebook. "Now, you do the right thing and ‘Sail’ yourself on in here and turn yourself in. Or, call us, and we’d be happy to provide you transportation."
Conti had no choice but to surrender.
"That’s awesome," he wrote with two laughing emojis. "I’ll be there before noon please have the paperwork done and ready."
Intrigued Facebook users asked if he handed himself in, and Conti later replied on the thread: "Sure did I’m a free man now."
Kankakee police confirmed to CBS Chicago that he did indeed keep his word.
The original post was part of "Warrant Wednesday", in which the department posts notices about wanted fugitives on its Facebook page, offering the public monetary rewards for helping track them down.
Chief Deputy Ken McCabe told the station that the idea started in August of 2014 because they did not have the manpower to go out looking for every fugitive.
He said the program has a 75 percent success rate, with an average of 49.5 days resolution time, adding that the system is clogged mostly by people who are wanted for failure to appear in court.
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