Suspect found after checking Myspace account

updated 3:50 p.m. ET Dec. 11, 2006

MACON, Ga. - Authorities have the Internet and a public computer to thank for the capture of a man who was on the loose since he escaped last June from a Georgia jail.

Darren Bates, 35, was arrested in Philadelphia, Pa., after police learned that he regularly checked his Myspace.com account at a public library there, said Capt. Chris Spires of the Baldwin County, Ga., Sheriff's Department.

Spires said Bates was surprised when officers arrested him at the library Thursday morning.

Myspace.com is a social networking Web site. Baldwin County Sheriff Bill Massee said this case shows it can help police track people down.

"It's amazing to us the number of people, regardless of their status as far as being wanted, that do get on computers and do use their real names or use aliases that are well known, and they can be tracked that way," Massee said.

Massee's department is now trying to extradite Bates. Spires said a hearing is scheduled De. 15.

Spires said Bates faces multiple charges in Baldwin County, including aggravated battery, burglary, auto theft and entering in auto. The battery charges stem from an attack on an 88-year-old woman.

Bates was in the Hancock County Jail facing auto theft charges when he escaped last June.

Bates also faces sexual assault charges in New Bedford, Mass., said Detective Al Silva with the New Bedford, Mass., police department.

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