Teen charged after 'Drivin drunk' Facebook post
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - Jacob Cox-Brown might want to adjust his Facebook privacy settings.
Police in the coastal city of Astoria, Ore., arrested the teenager after he allegedly confessed via Facebook that he had been driving drunk on New Year's Eve and hit someone's car.
Deputy Chief Brad Johnston said Thursday that officers were investigating a hit and run involving a sideswiped car that sustained significant damage - a second car was also hit - when two Facebook friends of Cox-Brown contacted authorities, reporting a Facebook post in which the 18-year-old wrote: "Drivin drunk ... classsic ;) but to whoever's vehicle i hit i am sorry. :P"
One of his friends sent a Facebook message to an Astoria police officer; the other called the station, Johnston said. Officers went to Cox-Brown's house and found a vehicle that matched the damage done to the two vehicles. Police also connected pieces from the crash scene to the vehicle registered to Cox-Brown.
"He denied it initially, and it wasn't until he was confronted with overwhelming evidence that he finally admitted to it," Johnston said.
Cox-Brown, who has more than 650 Facebook friends, did not immediately respond to a Facebook message seeking comment. He does not have a phone number listed in his name.
Cox-Brown was charged with failure to perform the duties of a driver. He was booked into the Clastsop County Jail and released on his own recognizance. He avoided a charge of drunken driving because he was interviewed hours after the incident and the Facebook post is not sufficient evidence that he was intoxicated.
"We can't just convict somebody based on the fact that they said they were drunk," Johnston said.
Johnston said the department is fairly active in social media and it has been useful in several cases. He added that the takeaway from this case is not that people should be careful about what they post of Facebook: "No, the message is stop and contact people when you run into their cars."
Police in the coastal city of Astoria, Ore., arrested the teenager after he allegedly confessed via Facebook that he had been driving drunk on New Year's Eve and hit someone's car.
Deputy Chief Brad Johnston said Thursday that officers were investigating a hit and run involving a sideswiped car that sustained significant damage - a second car was also hit - when two Facebook friends of Cox-Brown contacted authorities, reporting a Facebook post in which the 18-year-old wrote: "Drivin drunk ... classsic ;) but to whoever's vehicle i hit i am sorry. :P"
One of his friends sent a Facebook message to an Astoria police officer; the other called the station, Johnston said. Officers went to Cox-Brown's house and found a vehicle that matched the damage done to the two vehicles. Police also connected pieces from the crash scene to the vehicle registered to Cox-Brown.
"He denied it initially, and it wasn't until he was confronted with overwhelming evidence that he finally admitted to it," Johnston said.
Cox-Brown, who has more than 650 Facebook friends, did not immediately respond to a Facebook message seeking comment. He does not have a phone number listed in his name.
Cox-Brown was charged with failure to perform the duties of a driver. He was booked into the Clastsop County Jail and released on his own recognizance. He avoided a charge of drunken driving because he was interviewed hours after the incident and the Facebook post is not sufficient evidence that he was intoxicated.
"We can't just convict somebody based on the fact that they said they were drunk," Johnston said.
Johnston said the department is fairly active in social media and it has been useful in several cases. He added that the takeaway from this case is not that people should be careful about what they post of Facebook: "No, the message is stop and contact people when you run into their cars."
I think the message here is to not drink and drive and you wouldn't be randomly hitting peoples cars.
what a complete idiot
Well thank goodness he was idiotic enough to post on Facebook! Many thanks to the couple of people (out of 650) who were concerned and reported it to the authorities.
It's a generation of entitlement but it's also a generation of needing to inform the world what they're up to. I'm not sure what's up there, maybe their 5-15 minutes of fame might be extended? It's amazing how many dipshiat people seem to be proud of the fact they're not only breaking the law but are putting other peoples lives/property at risk. My guess is after this whole Facebook thing cycles through, there will be a generation that values their privacy a wee bit more.
At least he'll have some consequences for his stupidity of drinking and driving. Just think, too, that when he goes to apply for a job the employer will have this tidbit of information about him. Chances of getting hired? Nil.
Doesn't Portland have the same scoop laws most Washington cities have? Why isn't whomever crapped this thing out being made to come clean it up and properly dispose of it?
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Seriously,what kind of POS gleefully brags about drunkenly damaging someone else's car and shows zero remorse for crawling away like a coward? Talk about zero self-respect, pride or integrity!
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A quote from the parents/guardians would be interesting in these stories, see who is embarrassed and says they tried to raise decent human beings and failed somewhere, and who defend their idiots' actions.
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Heck, it might even shame a few of them into giving a crap what their kids are up to out in the world if they're actually held somewhat accountable in reputation.Â
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 @MargeGunderson "Seriously,what kind of POS gleefully brags about drunkenly damaging someone else's car and shows zero remorse for crawling away like a coward?"
Well, probably the same kind of mentality that not only brags about raping a drunk underage girl - not only the participants, but the witnesses as well.
http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/04/justice/ohio-rape-online-video/index.html?hpt=hp_bn1
The kid learned the hard way to never post anything on Facebook that you don't want the entire world to know - no matter what your privacy settings are.
 @UtterReality Hopefully he also learns to man up and not be a coward when his selfish idiocy damages other peoples' property.
Facebook common sense is the very least of what this loser is lacking; without self-respect or integrity, everything else is pretty worthless.Â
Good job to the Facebook friends although it's kind of sad that out of 650 FB friends, only two contacted the cops.
 @queenofthenight I'm glad someone else also noticed that disturbing and depressing math. :^(.Â
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Although not all may have seen the update. I never put anything up, just follow some friends with mine, but from what little I understand there's about three million different settings or levels or whatevers, of who all gets all of your updates, or wall posts, or likes on other sites, etc.Â
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I'm sure it's still a depressingly low ratio of how many actually saw it, though even if it isn't the entire 650 (which I really hope not!)
At least it's nice to know his friends were not as irresponsible as he was.
 @Willow Well, two of them anyway...Â
This has got to be up there with that dumb broad who posted on Facebook about robbing a bank and wound up in prison. Haha.
He probably hit the second car while he was busy thumbing in his status.
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Ahhh, the future of america. Doesn't look good in so many ways, yet another example of just how stupid people can be. Nothing surprises me anymore.
What a complete dip****; REAL brilliant...not to mention putting other people in danger!
it  is a product of today's youth. People broadcast every detail of their life on facebook and then they reap what the sow. On a side note, you don't really need friends to snitch on you. There are some pretty Robust social media monitoring programs out there that will scan facebook, twitter, etc for specific key words and return all users with posts/statuses using such a key word.Â
What a stupid fool!
Living your life on Facebook is just about as stupid as drinking and driving
 @Just my say <GRIN>  I've NEVER been on Facebook, Twitter or any of those social networking type of sites....  I never plan to either.  In fact THIS is the only site I contribute anything on.Â
 @Just my say Both are near the top of the stupid list and the loser list, but the drinking and driving overwhelmingly wins the POS competition.Â
Haha, you dipshidiot! I hope you get what you deserve.
 @Tattooed_Angel What a great new word! I promise to give you full credit when I find ways to drop it in conversation.Â
@MargeGunderson I wish I could take credit for that one but I actually saw it on Facebook, of all places. I guess Facebook is good for other things besides catching idiot drunk drivers! LOL
 @Tattooed_Angel It's good for catching pedophiles, too, remember? POS a few months ago didn't realize he was still logged into Facebook, and when he commented on a child porn site, it went on his Facebook wall and apparently a lot more than two of his FB friends got the update.
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The drunk driving moron above posted his idiocy intentionally. What the pedophile POS learned the hard way is that even if you've closed all Facebook windows on your computer, you are still logged in (and it's still spying your computer, obviously) until you've actually logged out of your account.
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And more and more comment sections are embedded Facebook walls; he was typing directly onto his and didn't even notice.Â
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(Although from their perspective, what a horrifying shock to learn that of a beloved family member or friend of many decades, and what an awful way to find out.)Â
what an idiot. the "smart" phone, FB, etc generation are not as bright as they think....
 @SwampThing It's rather disquieting to imagine many of them in a world without their little electronic crutches, that's for sure.
 @TheTruncheon  @SwampThing Have you noticed that more and more cannot conduct a transaction without a live phone connection at their ear?
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Seriously, I don't mean just the ones who don't shut the (heck) up and hang the (heck) up when they're up to bat; I'm more often seeing people frantically dial (is it still called that?) someone as they're stepping into line, like they're afraid to go in alone.Â
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It's the digital age buffer zone, equivalent of the long hair in face, collars pulled up, hoodie with hood up, etc. teens have done for generations. Only now the affected age is gradually stretching out.Â
That's what FB friends are for - pointing you to the right direction or, rather, pointing them to you! Muhahahahahaha!
EPIC FAIL~
"Social Media" seems to have helped create a generation of retardos.
What an idiot for both reasons. Drunk driving AND bragging about it. Too bad the fact that he stated he was drunk driving can't be considered a confession.
Drunk driving is not a funny story or folly to post for the entertainment value, it is a criminal act. That he thinks it is "classic" and figures a public apology that likely does not even reach the owner of the vehicle he hit is enough, just wow. This kid and his parents need to have some serious discussions on what responsibility means and I think he should post a public mea culpa and then if it were my kid a public declaration that he will neither be online or going anywhere for quite some time. Just, wow.
 @andyourpointis I would like to see them start routinely quoting the parents/guardians of these drains on society.
Give them a chance to tell us this isn't how they raised their kids to behave and think, or whiningly defend their idiot kids' actions, or whatever they want to say for themselves.Â
FB once again proves to be a cop's best friend. Â Another moron bragging about his crime online - good thing they are never smart enough to learn that's not a bright idea.
dumb brat...Â