A poorly considered selfie will usually result in, at worst, a little online ridicule. This week, one led to felony arrests in the Bay Area.
Two men were taken into custody this week in connection with a burglary of $100,000 in tools, copper wire and vehicles that was reported on Monday. The items were taken from a business on Green Island Road in American Canyon, a city in Napa Valley, Calif. A photo that one of the men took — of himself — at the crime scene led officers to make the first arrest.
On Tuesday, Daniel Lemas, 53, of Hayward, Calif., was stopped by the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office in a vehicle linked to the burglary, and the sheriff’s office alerted the authorities in American Canyon. At the scene, American Canyon police found evidence that they said tied Mr. Lemas to the theft, including photos.
The authorities “were able to obtain evidence to place the driver” in custody, some of which included “selfie photographs of him committing the crimes,” American Canyon police said in a statement.
In a photograph released with the statement, a man with a mask that obscures his face below the eyes is shown holding up a peace sign while looking at the camera and posing in front of what appears to be an industrial-size spool of wire. The police also released an evidence photo of hundred-dollar bills laid out on a counter.
Mr. Lemas was booked in the Napa County Department of Corrections on several felony charges, including burglary. His bail was set at $25,000, according to inmate records. It was not clear whether he had legal representation.
On Wednesday, police in Hayward, Calif., notified American Canyon authorities that they had stopped a second vehicle associated with the burglary. Officers arrived at the scene and arrested Dennis Tylij, 49, also of Hayward. He was charged with conspiracy to commit a crime, which is a felony. His bail was also set at $25,000. His court-appointed lawyer could not immediately be reached for comment.
Later that day, authorities from American Canyon and several other departments served a search warrant at an address in Hayward. There, officers recovered some of the stolen items, according to the statement from American Canyon police.
The discovery of the selfie on Mr. Lemas’s phone was not the first time an urge to document such moments has led to arrests. In 2024, a 22-year-old influencer was accused of stealing hundreds of dollars’ worth of items from a Target store in Florida. Before the theft, she posted on TikTok about herself preparing to go to the store for nearly 400,000 followers to see. She later uploaded what turned out to be evidence of her picking out the items she was taking and bringing them home.
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