Florida fugitive arrested after using his wanted poster as Facebook profile pic

A fugitive in Florida has been arrested by police after he used a wanted poster adorned with his mug shot for his Facebook profile picture.

Police in the city of Stuart, around 30 miles north of West Palm Beach, say they were able to track Mack Yearwood after he switched his profile picture on the popular social media website.

The 42-year-old choose his "Wanted of the Week" poster used online since October 2015 by the Citrus County Sheriff's Office, 120 miles away from Stuart.

He had been charged with two outstanding warrants in Citrus County for violating terms of his probation in a battery case before changing his profile picture in March.

Despite boasting on Facebook that police would not "come and get him in Tennessee" investigators tracked him down on Tuesday (30 August) after a fresh complaint was made in Stuart, WPBF-TV reported.

They added that when investigators they tried to find out what they could about Yearwood, discovered the post and he was arrested the very next day.

After his profile change, a relative left a comment on his Facebook page saying: "I wish he would take it down too!! The cops use Facebook now!!."

Fox 29 Palm Beach reported on Friday that Yearwood was arrested on the open warrants from Citrus County and a cannabis possession charge. Police say that as they arrested Yearwood a bag of marijuana fell out of his pocket.

They charged him with possession of cannabis under 20g and are continuing to investigate the battery complaint.

Criminals are struggling to come to terms with police forces becoming aware of social media.

In August, a fugitive in Australia who took exception to a mugshot being put out by police offered her own selected picture on Facebook. Amy Sharp fled from Surry Hills Corrective Services Cell Complex in New South Wales after being held for property offences.

And in January 2015 a US teenager was arrested on suspicion of threatening to kill a police officer using emojis. Osiris Aristy, 18, was arrested at his home in Brooklyn, New York after police were alerted to the "terrorist threat" he made on his Facebook account.