Suspected Thief Arrested After Surveillance Video of Crime Goes Viral

Alleged laptop thief arrested in S.F. after she's recognized from video.

The alleged perpetrator of a brazen theft of a Mac laptop from a San Francisco cafe is in police custody -- thanks to a viral video.

San Francisco police arrested 32-year-old Paul Raynal after a person who saw the video online followed the suspect into a Financial District Starbucks and called police.

"It's absolutely jaw dropping" Ahryun Moon said of the power of social media.

It is Moon's laptop that Raynal is suspected of stealing.

Moon spends her days at Joy's Place in the Lower Nob Hill neighborhood building an iPhone app on her computer. There were no witnesses around when Raynal allegedly snagged her laptop and phone.

But a security camera caught the theft. Cafe owner Stephan Huh pulled more than an hour of video for Moon.

The video shows the suspect in a blue and white striped shirt hanging out at the care for more than an hour. When Moon leaves her computer to use the restroom, the thief makes off with her devices in less than a minute.

Moon posted the video on YouTube and on her blog. The video went viral, netting more than 215,000 views since it was posted on Saturday.

Raynal was also wearing the same clothes worn during the alleged theft when he was arrested, police said.

Moon's laptop and phone are still missing, but she is glad a thief is off the streets.

"My purpose of doing all this is to catch the guy and take him off the street," she said.

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