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PLACERVILLE-

Police in Placerville say social media played a key role in solving a carjacking.

Officers spread a surveillance photo of the suspect and say citizens who saw it online helped them locate the suspect.

“Ultimately, it was the public that made the case,” Placerville Police Chief Scott Heller said.

Heller says his department posted a surveillance photo its Facebook page.

“We seem to use it a lot in connection with social media, it’s such a powerful tool to be able to pull a video of a suspect,” Heller said.

It all started Monday afternoon in a parking garage off Stagecoach Alley.

kenneth khon
Kenneth Khon (Courtesy: El Dorado County Sheriff)

That’s where Heller says Kenneth Krohn saw a crime of opportunity. A woman had left her keys in her car while she was not too far away.

Krohn allegedly jumped in and started the engine.

“She attempted to prevent that and he drove off, rapidly knocking the women to the ground,” Heller said.

He got away fast, but not before a surveillance camera captured this image of him in the car.

Detectives got the same image out quickly on Facebook, Twitter and other social media, as well as sharing it with other law enforcement agencies.

“Within a couple of hours, the Sheriff’s Department located the suspect in the area of Shingle Springs and subsequently an arrest was made,” Heller said. “The vehicle was recovered and the victim is recovering.”

Heller says a crime like this would have taken a lot longer to solve in the old days before re-tweets and Facebook likes.

“To be able to generate a response and a positive identification, which moves an investigation from hours or days to sometimes minutes,” Heller said.

Krohn was booked into the El Dorado County Jail.