Ryan Smith of SorD skate shop in Woodland, CA., posted this photograph on Facebook to help catch suspects who allegedly stole from the store. As social media continues to grow, the applications of such media are expanding as well. And Ryan is now a believer in this.

Smith utilized Facebook to identify the criminals that stole four skateboards from SorD skate shop. Smith, co-owner of the shop on Main Street, was in the back of the store conducting inventory around 6 p.m. when he heard the sound of the door opening. By the time he could get to the front of the store, it was too late. Four skateboards were missing from the collection.

Smith ran outside trying to catch a glimpse of who took the boards, but there was no one there. After filing a report with the Woodland Police Department that night, Smith did some investigating of his own.

There are 15 security cameras set up throughout the store, but three were all he needed. He posted the footage on Facebook at 8:30 p.m., as well as a screen shot of the individuals involved, and asked the community for help in identifying them.

By 9 p.m., tips were already flooding the company’s Facebook page. Due to the large community response to the video, which had 4,500 views as of Tuesday morning, Smith learned the name of one of the suspects.

Again, Smith used Facebook to search for this person, and found something interesting: On the suspect’s profile was a post stating that he had a “Toymachine deck for sale,” which was one of the four boards missing. […]