Connecticut man allegedly robs a motel and escapes. Two months later, police find a TikTok love note that leads to his arrest
Police went through his profile.
An Enfield, Connecticut, man’s love note to a woman on TikTok allegedly helped police identify a suspect involved in a robbery of a motel in which $10,000 worth of cash and goods were stolen. 45-year-old Francisco Perez was arrested after his social media comment linked him to the crime.
On July 28, two armed men reportedly robbed Motel 6 on Silas Deane Highway in Wethersfield around 10:16pm, holding the clerk at gunpoint and assaulting him before stealing $9,701 in cash along with his phone and watch, according to CT Insider. The pair fled the scene in a stolen white Hyundai Elantra, which was later found abandoned by Amtrak police in Hartford.
Since then, the suspects remained at large until police discovered a woman’s TikTok profile and that of another user who allegedly left a comment in Spanish on one of her posts through open-source research. According to the warrant, the translated comment, “Love you always, beautiful, my love. One hundred percent Puerto Rico,” suggested an ongoing and personal relationship between the two individuals.
Police investigated Perez after seeing his TikTok love note
Investigators delved further into the user who wrote the comment and claimed that photos shared on the user’s profile, allegedly showing a “Hispanic male with well-groomed, manicured eyebrows,” matching the suspect description, bore a strong resemblance to one of the individuals captured on surveillance footage from the Motel 6 robbery. They also noted that the user was wearing an outfit in one of the photos that closely matched the suspect’s clothing seen in the surveillance footage.
Per the warrant, “The image of Perez wearing the Nike hooded sweatshirt closely resembles one of the armed suspects (suspect #1 as described above) depicted in the Motel 6 surveillance footage.” Police later sent a request for assistance in identifying the man to other departments and Danbury police, leading to Perez’s identification. Catching the attention of authorities through one’s digital footprint is not an isolated incident. In one case, a woman was arrested after comments she made on Claude.
Using Perez’s phone number and driver’s license, investigators found that his phone was in the Hartford area around 9pm and was active both before and after the robbery took place. “The timing and location of the resumed cellular activity closely correspond with the observed movement of the stolen vehicle immediately following the robbery,” the warrant said.
Police arrived at Perez’s home in Enfield, where they reportedly found a container that officers believe had cocaine and a loaded Smith & Wesson handgun. According to the warrant, the handgun found in Perez’s home allegedly matched the weapon one of the suspects used to hit the motel clerk in the head during the crime.
The evidence allegedly matched Perez
During the search, police said they also collected a sample of Perez’s DNA, which allegedly matched the sample found on the stolen car’s steering wheel. DNA plays a critical role in identifying suspects and linking them to crime scenes, and in some cases, can also help exonerate individuals wrongly accused of heinous crimes.
With evidence stacked against him, in addition to allegedly having the insider code to the motel’s safe, police “strongly identifies Perez” as one of the suspects in the robbery. On Sept. 22, Perez was arrested and accused of multiple charges, including first-degree robbery, conspiracy to commit first-degree robbery, first-degree kidnapping with a firearm, second-degree assault with a firearm, and second-degree larceny.
Perez’s bond was set at $500,000, with the case forwarded to the New Britain Superior Court. He is scheduled to appear in court on Oct. 13. The second suspect in the robbery, however, has yet to be identified.
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