back to article Wanted man sends selfie to replace 'terrible' police mug shot

A man wanted by police in Ohio has sent in a selfie to replace the photo authorities have used in a crime alert. Donald "Chip" Pugh, 45, is being sought by the Lima, OH Police Department for failure to appear in court. Pugh is also a person of interest in separate arson and vandalism cases. In an alert posted to Facebook, the …

  1. h4rm0ny

    Win-win.

    He gets a better photo of himself and the police get a more accurate one for people to recognize him from.

    To anyone who thinks a photo can't be inaccurate I present... the left and right photos in this story above.

    1. This post has been deleted by its author

      1. Quortney Fortensplibe
        Facepalm

        Re: Win-win.

        "...not have a head covering (unless it’s for religious or medical reasons)..."

        And in that single, idiotic, exception, they render the entire set of rules pointless.

        1. Peter2 Silver badge

          Re: Win-win.

          Generally, yes. But not always.

          If it's somebody wearing a Burka then a picture is going to be a bit pointless since it's going totally cover any facial features making identification from the picture impossible.

          If it's a Sikh wearing a turban however, then you might as well just take the picture with it on since they will invariably be wearing it and frankly the absence of the turban in the picture would make it harder to identify the person, not easier.

          1. Quortney Fortensplibe
            Headmaster

            Re: Win-win.

            I see what you're saying but I think that any legislation which applies to everyone should apply to everyone.

            In a modern secular society there should be no place for a "God told me to do it" exemption from the same laws as the rest of us have to obey.

            1. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: Win-win.

              > I think that any legislation which applies to everyone should apply to everyone.

              The example you refer to does clearly apply to everyone: those who cover their heads for religious or medical reasons, and those who don't.

              PS: Is the above quotation a pleonasm or a tautology?

          2. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Win-win.

            Wear a turban = look closer to the person in the passport, remove turban = look less like the person in your passport.

        2. Graham Bartlett

          Re: Win-win.

          Why? It doesn't exempt you from the requirement to have nothing covering your face, which rules out burqas and the like. A turban or hijab still gives a perfectly good view of someone's face.

          Same as the rule about sunglasses - you could have chronic light-sensitivity which needs you to cover your eyes at all times, but you'd still have to have your passport photo taken with eyes open and shades off.

        3. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Win-win.

          I have medical reasons: I suffer from Groucho Marx Syndrome, so I must wear round glasses, a false moustache and eyebrows and have a cigar in my mouth at all times.

        4. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Win-win.

          Of course, there's always the pastafarian (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2747880/Pastafarian-allowed-wear-spaghetti-strainer-head-driving-licence-photo-classed-religious-headgear.html) religious headgear.

        5. eldakka

          Re: Win-win.

          You seem to have missed:

          -not have anything covering your face

          Your face and your head are not the same thing.

          Even if your head is covered, your face MUST BE exposed. e.g. wearing a hat covers the head but does not cover the face. If wearing a burka, the part covering the face must be removed/pulled aside to show the face, but the part covering the head (i.e. your hairline) may remain.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Win-win.

        That's why passport photos have the following requirements!

        It's not so police can recognise you, it's so Big Brother's video camera network run by robot overlords can recognise you.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Win-win.

          And this is why *everyone* who wears glasses (which they need to read the instructions on the auto-passport booth) was getting rejected at the e-gate when I came through Manchester airport before Christmas.

          Wasn't really very well thought out was it?

          People wear glasses to read instructions, machine doesn't recognize person with glasses because photo had to be taken without glasses. Idiotic

          1. nsld

            Re: Win-win. e-gates

            Nothing automated about them apart from reading the passport.

            The images are still approved by the meatsack sitting in the booth to one side and he/she controls the opening of the gates.

          2. imanidiot Silver badge

            Re: Win-win.

            You CAN wear glasses in your passport photo. Just not with tinted lenses and there can't be glare (from a flash or lighting) obscuring the eyes. Any decent photographer should be able to get a photo without glare while a person wears his or her prescription glasses.

        2. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Win-win.

          It's not so police can recognise you, it's so Big Brother's video camera network run by robot overlords can recognise you.

          First it's lizards, now it's robots. Is anyone else hotly anticipating the great Lizard Robot war for the souls of mankind?

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Popcorn time

    I guess this is where we find out how clued up our alleged perp Pretty Pugh is about the contents of server logs, anonymous proxies, mobile location tracking, embedded image metadata, ...

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Popcorn time

      1st thing I thought of, did he turn off GPS and location settings before taking the picture....Unless of course, the police haven't thought of checking it.

      1. Mark 85

        Re: Popcorn time

        Faceborg doesn't strip that info from the photo before posting it? I thought they were doing that but only after tucking the info away into their product database.

    2. Known Hero

      Re: Popcorn time

      There I fixed it for you :)

      I guess this is where we find out how clued up our alleged perp Pretty Pugh Police are about the contents of server logs, anonymous proxies, mobile location tracking, embedded image metadata, ...

      1. Adam 52 Silver badge

        Re: Popcorn time

        He's on the run for skipping bail, arson and vandalism. Nobody is going to be checking server logs or whatever else. They'll pop round to his mum's tomorrow to get him. How much spare time do you think cops have?

        (Ok, now that this is international news it might get more attention, but normally this would be one of many "if you come across him" on the briefing)

    3. Adam 1

      Re: Popcorn time

      Clearly the solution here is to ban encryption.

      1. nevstah

        Re: Popcorn time

        ban encryption, if you're innocent you have nothing to hide

        same goes for GPS, you shouldn't be able to turn it off and anyone found with their device in a suitable anti-gps enclosure should be arrested under the anti-terrorism act

        1. wowfood

          Re: Popcorn time

          I'm still looking forward to the time we have a GPS tracking chip embedded in the back of our hands, which can double as a contactless payment system.

  3. DrXym

    He should have left the original

    I doubt many people would have ID'd him from that. Besides which, the dummy has probably gifted law enforcement with the IP address of his phone (which can trace back to its phone provider, identity etc.), with possibly some geotags thrown in for good measure.

    1. Ru'

      Re: He should have left the original

      Who says the replacement photo he sent is actually of him?

      1. DrXym

        Re: He should have left the original

        There are enough similarities to say it is - the kink in his hairline, the shape of his eyebrows, the vertical crease / scar next to one eyebrow, the general proportions of his face.

        It's just in one it looks like he was off his head on something and the other looks like a passport photo.

        This isn't some master criminal at work here, just the latest in a line of dummies who think it's a fabulous idea to goad police through the internet only to provide assistance in their own capture.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: He should have left the original

          It's just in one it looks like he was off his head on something

          I thought, seeing that, he did this because he got stoned. Maybe the arson was really him falling asleep and dropping the joint?

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Say it loud! I'm a Thundercat and proud!

        @Ru'; Now, *that* is a very good point!

        Also, comparing yourself to James Brown and the Thundercats? Don't flatter yourself mate.

    2. Simon Harris

      Re: He should have left the original

      " the IP address of his phone (which can trace back to its phone provider, identity etc.)"

      Maybe he stole the phone.

      1. Eltonga
        Meh

        Re: He should have left the original

        Most probably he used his mom's.

  4. Teiwaz

    Suspected vandal, arsonist...

    and self-publicist.

    The latter is an epidemic that should also face stiff penalties...

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I thought this was an article about Carlton

    You know, from Fresh Prince of Bel Air.

    Also the top right pic looks like Beetlejuice (Howard Stern fans will know).

    1. Andy Scott

      Re: I thought this was an article about Carlton

      I'm glad I'm not the only one that thought it was a story about Alfonso Ribeiro

  6. 080

    Which Photo?

    Which photo was he objecting to, the one where he looks like "overfed" or the one where he looks like a dork?

  7. jake Silver badge

    One word:

    Dumbass.

  8. Stevie

    Bah!

    The rozzers should have asked if he had a link to the youtube video of his alleged arson in progress.

  9. Shadow Systems

    It would have been funny if...

    All the metadata embedded in the self portrait he'd submitted, plus the scene in the background, proved he'd snapped the new photo in front of the police station that had issued the original Be On The Look Out for him in the first place.

    If you're going to thumb your nose at them & taunt them like Frenchmen atop the castle walls, do it on their own front steps as further proof you don't think they can catch you.

    Then when the Judge asks WTF you were thinking when you did it, your reply of "Temporary Insanity" holds that much more credibility.

    *Cough*

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Rack up another charge

    Wait, am I the only one who's noticed that he's taken his 'style' selfie while at the wheel of a car?

    That'll be another charge added to the list then, when they eventually nab him ...

    (...or is using a mobile while operating a motor vehicle not yet banned in the US ?)

    1. Midnight

      Re: Rack up another charge

      I think there's something in their Constitution which guarantees the right to use a mobile phone while driving a car.

      1. nsld

        Re: Rack up another charge

        Is that before or after the bit about the right to arm bears?

      2. Dr Scrum Master

        Re: Rack up another charge

        I think there's something in their Constitution which guarantees the right to use a mobile phone while driving a car.

        ...and that you don't need a driving licence/driver's license to drive a car. (Go check YouTube.)

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