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NOBLESVILLE, Ind. - A Hamilton County judge has signed a search warrant that allows police to track a man's car based on photos and bragging he posted on social networking sites.

One investigator with the Hamilton/Boone County Drug Task Force said it's amazing what drug pushers are now posting online, including pictures of themselves using drugs or carrying large quantities of drugs.

"They tell the world everything," said the officer.

In this case, task force officers were alerted to a series of pictures posted online from a Carmel man. In postings on Instagram and Facebook, the man displayed large amounts of cash fanned out in front of the camera, as well as one shot of several $100 bills dangling from his mouth.

Other postings showed a pistol on top of a pile of cash, as well as shots of him holding various guns. Other pictures appeared to show packages of marijuana, police wrote in their application for a search warrant.

As officers spelled out their probable cause to install a GPS tracking device on the suspect's car, they primarily focused on those social media postings by the suspect. No corroborating witnesses or informants were mentioned, but officers wrote that the man had been convicted of possessing marijuana in the past.

The Superior Court 3 judge signed the warrant last week based on that probable cause affidavit.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in January 2012 that police need a search warrant in order to install tracking devices on a suspect's car.

Task force commander Aaron Dietz, an officer with the Carmel Police Department, said the case involves more than merely social networking posts.

"There's more to it than what's there. We didn't pull a rabbit out of a hat with social media," he said.

Originally posted here:
Social posts lead to spying order