--- description: Long Island man posted a series of Facebook videos explaining how exactly he tampered with the cameras title: Man Gets Busted for Crime Because of Facebook, Then Brags on Facebook image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4efd2cdbaa1a4560/6987ec7b0b72e340166e1a8c/ap772444855754-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Newsfeed](/tag/time-section-newsfeed/) ## Newsfeed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Man Gets Busted for Crime Because of Facebook, Then Brags on Facebook by [Samantha Grossman](/author/samantha-grossman/) ## Samantha Grossman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 26, 2015 8:06 PM CUT  ILLUSTRATION - the illustration picture shows the logo of facebook on an iPhone 5s in Berlin, Germany, 31 October 2014\. Photo by: Lukas Schulze/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images ILLUSTRATION - the illustration picture shows the logo of facebook on an iPhone 5s in Berlin, Germany, 31 October 2014\. Photo by: Lukas Schulze/picture-alliance/dpa/AP ImagesLukas Schulze—AP by [Samantha Grossman](/author/samantha-grossman/) ## Samantha Grossman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 26, 2015 8:06 PM CUT Long Island resident Stephen Ruth recently decided he was fed up with traffic cameras. And then he decided to take action. Ruth tampered with the cameras, got arrested for it, and then bragged about the incident on Facebook, New York’s PIX11[ reports](http://pix11.com/2015/08/25/man-arrested-after-posting-videos-on-facebook-of-him-tampering-with-traffic-cameras/ "undefined"). How did police manage to track Ruth down? He conveniently posted a series of Facebook [videos ](https://www.facebook.com/stephen.ruth.96/posts/1019988308042088 "undefined")explaining how exactly he tampered with the cameras. “All it took was a pair of balls and a painter’s pole,” he explained. “I’m going to show you how easy it is to take the power back.” Police said he used his contraption to push the cameras upward so that they capture footage of the sky instead of the road. He changed the position of four cameras in total, and police soon found him after receiving tips about his videos, which were starting to go viral. Following his arrest, Ruth [returned to Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/stephen.ruth.96?fref=nf&pnref=story "undefined"), where he expressed pride about his actions: --- > “” --- So far, plenty of people have expressed [gratitude](https://twitter.com/Nickygstrings/status/636540089095618560 "undefined") and declared Ruth [a hero](https://twitter.com/RamonasSpot/status/636568598585192448 "undefined"). According to his Facebook, Ruth is due in court Oct. 27\. Let’s hope he doesn’t get caught speeding on his way there. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4012005/red-light-facebook-crime/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4012005/red-light-facebook-crime/"},"headline":"Man Gets Busted for Crime Because of Facebook, Then Brags on Facebook","datePublished":"2015-08-26T20:06:52.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:23:54.205Z","description":"He was just looking out for his fellow taxpayers","url":"https://time.com/4012005/red-light-facebook-crime/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Crime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4efd2cdbaa1a4560/6987ec7b0b72e340166e1a8c/ap772444855754-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Samantha Grossman","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/samantha-grossman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4efd2cdbaa1a4560/6987ec7b0b72e340166e1a8c/ap772444855754-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Facebook logo shown on an iPhone 5s.","caption":"Facebook logo shown on an iPhone 5s.","creditText":"Lukas Schulze—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4012005/red-light-facebook-crime/","name":"Man Gets Busted for Crime Because of Facebook, Then Brags on Facebook"}}]}] ```