Ocean City Police Use Snapchat to Arrest a Vehicle Theft Suspect

OCEAN CITY, MD – (July 18, 2016): A New York man was arrested by Ocean City police on Saturday evening after stealing a Jeep Wrangler and driving it erratically on Coastal Highway all while recording the incident on Snapchat.

On July 16, 2016, at approximately 10:48 a.m. officers responded to the parking lot at Seacrets Bar & Grille (5003 Coastal Highway) for a report of a stolen vehicle. After an initial investigation, officers determined that a male suspect stole the vehicle, a 1994 Jeep Wrangler, earlier that morning at approximately 2 a.m. Officers located the vehicle parked at a condominium building in the area of 37thStreet later that morning, however, were not able to identify a suspect at the time.

At approximately 8 p.m. that evening, officers developed information that the suspect, Brian S. Engelmann, 24, of Mystic Beach, NY, had posted a series of videos to the popular social media platform “Snapchat” showing him stealing the Jeep Wrangler earlier that morning. Officers were able to locate and record the series of videos on Snapchat and confirm the identity of Engelmann. The videos depict Engelmann stealing the Jeep and driving erratically to 37th Street.

After further review of his Snapchat “story”, officers were also able to determine that Engelmann had returned to Seacrets that night. Officers responded to the bar where they quickly located and arrested Engelmann with assistance from Seacrets security staff.

Ocean City police charged Englemann with vehicle theft, in addition to multiple traffic violations that could be seen during the initial series of videos that Englemann had posted including using a handheld phone while driving, negligent driving, and driving while on a suspended license. Englemann was seen by a Maryland District Court Commissioner and was transferred to the Worcester County Jail on $20,000 bond.