Instagram helps Montgomery County police find ‘Hit Squad' robbery suspect

SILVER SPRING, Md. - Montgomery County police say a criminal did half of their job for them by posting where he was on Instagram, just moments before targeting a man in a violent robbery.

Police say Jerome Jeffries is a confirmed member of the Hit Squad gang.

According to prosecutors, the Wheaton man thinks he's a hardened criminal.

But they say he wasn't thinking when surveillance cameras caught him robbing a man on Feb. 28.

The cameras show Jeffries walking up to a victim in a white jacket, and holding him up at gunpoint.

Jeffries can be seen striking the man in the face before he breaks away.

But all Jeffries walked away with was a North Face backpack and the victim's fast-food uniform.

After Jeffries robbed the man in the Wheaton strip mall, police say he robbed someone else a few days later. But it's what he posted on his Instagram that led to his arrest.

The State's Attorney's office says Jeffries posted pictures, and even tagged himself in Wheaton, just moments before the armed robbery. The information placed him at the scene.

A jury found Jeffries guilty Wednesday - thanks in part to his own Instagram account.

"This defendant Jerome Jeffries was very fond of Instagram. He posted on his Instagram account just minutes before the crime "Hey I'm here in Wheaton" and so we were able to prove to the jury that he was there at the location of the crime. That it was him on the video and that he was wearing that distinctive clothing that he had with a bright neon green stripe on the on the jacket and the shoes that he was wearing at the time all caught on his Instagram posts, all caught on video," said Montgomery County State's Attorney spokesperson Ramon Korionoff.

Jeffries could be sentenced to 30 years for the conviction - and he still faces charges for the second armed robbery.