Fugitive to surrender to police if wanted poster on Facebook gets 15,000 'likes'

A fugitive made an unlikely deal with police officers in Connecticut to surrender - if his wanted poster received 15,000 'likes' on Facebook.

Jose Simms, 29, has seven arrest warrants out against him and is being sought by Torrington Police after failing to appear in court on a range of charges including the risk of injury to a child.

The force's lieutenant Brett Johnson revealed the unusual agreement on the department's Facebook page on Wednesday, saying Mr Simms had contacted him through the social media site and agreed to turn himself in if his wanted poster garnered enough attention.

Lt. Johnson said he negotiated Mr Simms down from 20,000 likes to 15,000. "It will be difficult but is doable," he wrote.

He added that if anyone knows where Mr Simms, who is believed to be somewhere in New York, is hiding they could let police know and save the department some suspense.

However, the novel approach to catching criminals was not appreciated by everybody. Maki Haberfeld, an expert in police ethics and procedure at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, called the tactic unethical.

"It turns this into a joke," she said. "People will start looking at these various violations of law as a game."

Ms Haberfield added that Mr Simms was clearly getting a lot of attention through the ploy, suggesting that is exactly what he wants.

"This is 100 per cent manipulation," she said. "And for police, it's not an ethical thing to do."

Mr Simms, contacted by reporters through Facebook, said he is serious about the offer insisting he was a "man of my word."

"I wanted to give them a little incentive for all the hard work they put in to catch me," he said, "looking over your shoulder every 5 seconds can cause a lot of stress".

But as of Thursday afternoon, despite Mr Simms' wanted poster receiving more than 20,000 likes, police said there was still no sign of the fugitive.