Facebook alibi saves jailed Black teen
By ERIN CALABRESE – New York Post/November 12, 2009
Pass the syrup — this lucky guy is eating breakfast at home instead of on Rikers Island.
A Brooklyn teen’s playful Facebook message to his pregnant girlfriend about pancakes sprung him from jail and helped him avoid years in prison for a holdup he didn’t commit.
Prosecutors dropped a robbery charge against Rodney Bradford, 19, after learning his Facebook account status had been updated with the inside joke “WHERE MY IHOP?” from a computer in his dad’s Harlem apartment one minute before an Oct. 17 stickup of two men in Brooklyn’s Farragut Houses.
“They had me on Rikers Island for 12 days. It was really miserable,” Bradford told The Post last night.
“If it wasn’t for Facebook I’d still be on Rikers Island.”
His joyful stepmom, Ernestine Bradford, agreed, saying. “Facebook saved my son,” she said. “Normally, we yell at our kids, ‘Oh, you’re on the computer!” It’s completely different. If it wasn’t for Facebook, my son wouldn’t be here.” Read More »
Tags: Facebook, New York Post
Black Agenda Report
Your Black World