Instagram photos of gun, ammunition lead to arrest of Fairfield felon in possession of a gun
Fairfield man had been on supervised release when he was arrested
Fairfield man had been on supervised release when he was arrested
Fairfield man had been on supervised release when he was arrested
When a person finishes serving a sentence for federal crimes they are often placed on what is called "supervised release." In essence, that means you have to report to law enforcement about your whereabouts, refrain from any contact with others who were felons and, most importantly, you cannot have weapons or ammunition.
Many times felons caught in possession of weapons or ammunition are caught when an officer shows up for a surprise visit or they get pulled over or some other form of physical contact.
In the case of a Fairfield man, social media led to the arrest.
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David Punzal was on supervised release for a case dating back to 2013 — that, too, was for felon in possession of a weapon. According to court documents, he also had a warrant for violation of the terms of his release.
This is where Instagram comes to play.
Punzal began posting pictures on his account, including a video posted in April wishing, it seems, himself a happy birthday showing cookies, his nickname and a handgun. There were also alleged references to a Bay Area gang.
| Related | See the pictures in court documents here
Investigators then scrolled through Punzal's account and found another post from March where a person alleged to be Punzal sits on the driver's side of a car and in his lap sits a handgun with an extended magazine. Investigators say they connected the pictures to Punzal by matching the tattoos on the person's hand with other pictures of Punzal on the Instagram account.
Punzal is now charged with felon in possession of a handgun as well as violations of his supervised release. The investigators also took possession of his phones which they are going to search for other possible legal violations.