Robbery suspects found on MySpace. Cops go online in investigation of holdups on Orange Line(BOSTON)

[Ian David]

By Brian R. Ballou, Globe Staff | February 23, 2007

Relying on old-fashioned detective work, high-tech surveillance cameras, and an Internet social networking site frequented by teenagers, the MBTA Police arrested four alleged gang members for a string of Orange Line robberies.

MBTA Police said Jared Mathena, 18, of Brighton was arrested at State Station on Dec. 20 when he and three others tried to rob a man.

The man resisted and held Mathena down until police arrived, but the three other suspects fled, police said.

When investigators questioned Mathena, he gave them partial descriptions of the three accomplices.

He said he kept in touch with them through MySpace.

The detectives called up Mathena's Web page, and matched up pictures on the website with surveillance video.

Police said that in one picture, found on a friend's Web page that was linked to Mathena's, three of the four suspects posed together and flashed hand signs consistent with the Crips gang.

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