US felon’s ‘handsome’ mug shot goes viral

SAN FRANCISCO — A handsome mug shot of a Northern California man arrested on felony weapons charges has gone viral on social media, attracting more than 30,000 “likes” and drawing comments praising his high cheek bones, chiselled face and striking blue eyes.

Jeremy Meeks, 30, a felon, was arrested on Wednesday (June 18) on five weapons charges and one gang charge, according to Officer Joseph Silva, a spokesman for the Stockton Police Department.

No previous arrest photo has garnered so much positive attention since the department set up the Facebook page in March 2012, Silva told The Associated Press.

“I have not seen that many likes for a photo before,” he said.

By late yesterday, Meeks’ arrest photo had garnered more than 30,000 “likes”, and 9,400 comments, and had been shared more than 2,900 times.

“Wow. That is one good looking mug shot!” one person wrote.

“Momma, I’m in love with a criminal,” another joked.

Some online commentators even said Meeks looked like he belonged in an Abercrombie & Fitch ad or on the show “America’s Next Top Model”.

Still others were disapproving, such as one observer who said, “He may be a tad bit cute, but with six felonies, he ain’t that cute”.

Meeks was one of four men taken into custody during Operation Ceasefire, a multiagency mission to curb a recent increase in shootings and robberies in the Weston Ranch area of Stockton, a Northern California city of about 300,000 nestled amid the network of waterways that form the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.

Four firearms were confiscated during a sweep on Wednesday involving the Stockton police gang unit, the FBI, the United States Marshals Task Force and other agencies.

Silva called Meeks “one of the most violent criminals in the Stockton area”, though he declined to provide any details on the crimes that Meeks is believed to have been involved in.

Meeks, who is being held in lieu of US$900,000 (S$1.12 million) bail, is scheduled to be arraigned this afternoon.

Silva did not know whether he had retained a lawyer. AP