Accused thief turns self in when shamed on social media, could get life in prison

A man suspected of breaking through a Wyandotte ice cream shop and stealing $1,200 turned himself in after being shamed on social media - but he could get life in prison.

The break-in happened 1:30 Sunday morning when a thief threw a rock a through the Holy Cow Creamery store window. Once inside, he was caught on surveillance cameras as he made a run for the money.

"He took the cash register, the safe that had our change in it, and the the drops we had for the last two days," said owner Debbie Rote-Hayes. "He looked at every camera."

Rote-Hayes says not only did he look directly at all four cameras, he pulled his shirt over his head.

"I guess that was his disguise. Maybe he was trying to cover his hairline but when he did that he exposed tattoos," she said.

The Holy Cow Creamery put the pictures on their Facebook and received over 45,000 responses until the suspected thief was identified as 57-year-old Wayne Sampson. His family and others encouraged him in the comments to turn himself in, which he did on Tuesday.

"If you're doing something you're not supposed to be doing you're probably going to end up on Facebook, Instagram, or Snapchat," said Wyandotte Police Lt. Charles Seeley

Sampson has been charged with breaking and entering and is innocent until proven guilty.

However, he has several other breaking and entering and home invasions on his record and was on parole on at the time. He's an habitual offender 4th - meaning this could get him life in prison. 

His next court date is June 28th.