Facebook photo of stolen ring puts couple in jail

By | March 11, 2011, 10:05am PST

Summary: A Facebook photo helped police solve a $16,000 jewelry theft conducted by a young couple, which is now behind bars.

A Facebook photo of a stolen 3 carat diamond ring recently helped police solve a jewelry theft. After rings and other items valued at more than $16,000 were taken from a home on Saturday, a friend of the victim’s roommate saw one of the items on the social network.

20-year-old Crystal Yamnitzky captioned the photo with the following message: “Look what Robby gave me I love him so much,” in reference to her 21-year-old boyfriend Robert Driscoll. Yamnitzky’s cousin saw the post and told some friends, who alerted police. Both Yamnitzky and Driscoll have been charged in the case.

Driscoll’s grandmother told MSNBC that he was under pressure to give an engagement ring to Yamnitzky, his longtime girlfriend. She said Yamnitzky regularly told him “I want a ring” but Driscoll did not have the money to buy one, so he ended up stealing one in order to make her happy.

Police said Driscoll stole the items from the victim’s bedroom while he, Yamnitzky, and her cousin were visiting the residence. When authorities questioned Yamnitzky and asked the whereabouts of the nearly $12,000 ring from the Facebook photo, she said Driscoll had taken it to be resized. They later learned that Driscoll had sold six of the stolen items at Gold Buyers of Pittsburgh for $250.

The two partners in crime were arraigned Tuesday and were jailed after failing to post bond. Driscoll was charged with theft, criminal trespassing, and receiving stolen property. Yamnitzky was charged with theft and receiving stolen property.

Last week, I wrote about a different Facebook engagement ring. In that story, the social network worked as a lost and found service, with a little bit of luck, and a metal detector.

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Emil Protalinski has covered the tech industry for five years for multiple publications.

Disclosure

Emil Protalinski

Emil has nothing to disclose.

Biography

Emil Protalinski

Emil Protalinski has covered the tech industry for five years for multiple publications, including Neowin for two years and Ars Technica for three years. He has written 1,000s of articles for both, with a particular focus on scrutinizing Microsoft products and services. Recently, Emil has expanded his coverage to non-Microsoft technologies, including the social networking giant Facebook.

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RE: Facebook photo of stolen ring puts couple in jail
jackson1984-24316069205748857739440257893812 10th Oct
Okay! Thanks! I frequently nfl wholesale necessary to make on my webpage a point like that. Can I place into apply a part inside your submit to my blog site web page?
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Greed and Pride!
kd5auq 11th Mar 2011
Two of the deadlies all rolled into one woman.
HE is a fool!
0 Votes
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@kd5auq
JeanInMontana 13th Mar 2011
He is a thief, she is a fool.
0 Votes
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He's also a fool, she's a greedy *****. And his family is responsible too for enabling his leeching.

They'll be back on the streets stealing again soon.
0 Votes
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RE: Facebook photo of stolen ring puts couple in jail
jackson1984-24316069205748857739440257893812 10th Oct
Okay! Thanks! I frequently nfl wholesale necessary to make on my webpage a point like that. Can I place into apply a part inside your submit to my blog site web page?

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