Sheriff wins social media fight, makes arrest

Social media giveth, and social media taketh away, as the Butler County Sheriff's Office proved.

Andrew Dale Marcum, 21, of Lemon Township, achieved local internet celebrity Monday when he publicly defended himself against allegations from the Butler County Sheriff's Office in a Monday Facebook post.

However, tipsters learned of Marcum because of that defense, and they helped lead police to him less than 24 hours later.

The sheriff's office credited the anonymous tipsters for information leading to Marcum's Tuesday arrest, according to a Twitter post from the department.

The sheriff's office did not immediately confirm the charges against Marcum and said a press release was pending.

Butler County Sheriff Richard K. Jones is apparently relishing in the arrest via Twitter, posting a picture of what appears to be an emotional Marcum in his most recent mugshot.

The tweets all come in response to Marcum's public denial of the department's allegations in its Monday "warrant of the week" Facebook post.

The post contained information and pictures of Marcum, who is associated with alleged burglary and safe cracking, abduction, assault, domestic violence, criminal endangering and some bench warrants, according to the Facebook post.

A Facebook account bearing the name "Andrew Marcum" and featuring a profile picture consistent with Butler County mugshots was first to comment on the post: "I ain't tripping half of them don't even know me."

The exchange took another turn hours later when the operators of the Butler County Sheriff's Office Facebook accountresponded: "Andrew Marcum - if you could stop by the Sheriff's Office, that'd be great."

"Hey, it doesn't hurt to ask," the operators of the Butler County Sheriff's Office account posted later.

The posts attracted hundreds of "likes" and comments, as did Marcum's apparent defense and Jones' tweets on Tuesday.

Jones also jabbed at Marcum via Twitter prior to the arrest. From his Twitter account, @butlersheriff, Jones posted pictures of a vacant jail cell in reference to Marcum. Later, he cautioned Marcum that authorities were in pursuit of him, saying, "We r close to you marcum soon u will have a new place to live. C u soon."