Wanted Michigan Man Tells Redford Police: Get 1,000 Facebook Shares, I'll Surrender

A Michigan man, who is wanted for “existing warrants,” challenged the Redford Township Police Department (RTPD) on Oct. 7 that if the department’s next Facebook post manages to gather more than 1000 shares, he will turn himself in.

The department took up the challenge, fulfilled it, and is waiting for the wanted man to keep his end of the bargain.

Champagne Torino, who was born in Livonia, Michigan and currently lives in Auburn Hills in the same state, according to his Facebook profile, had challenged the department via a private message, stating that he will turn himself in if the department's next post was shared more than 1,000 times.

Torino also went one step further and promised to treat the department to donuts as well as clean the litter around the public schools in the area.

The department took up the gauntlet, posting a status with a screenshot of the wanted man’s claim, with the caption that began with “CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!” The post also urged everyone to share the post to help them reach their goal.

Less than an hour later, armed with more than a 1000 shares, the RTPD was waiting eagerly for Torino to fulfill his end of the deal, Detroit News reported.

However, Torino has not reached out to RTPD since then and has shown no intention of turning himself in. Nevertheless, RTPD is fairly certain that he will be caught sooner or later, since he has grabbed the media’s attention with his dare.

“It is amazing the support we get from the community. Mr. 'Torino' gave us a challenge,” RTPD wrote in a different post, following the completion of the challenge. “That challenge was accepted. He may or may not be a man of his word. It is our experience everyone gets caught at some point. He has drawn a lot of attention to himself, and that makes it hard to hide from reality.”

RTPD also posted a picture of an animated police officer dropping a microphone after it had successfully completed the challenge thrown at them by Torino.

Meanwhile, many Facebook users taunted Torino for his empty words and his failure to keep his end of the deal. “Mr. Torino, get those donuts and get to picking up trash! You challenged the wrong side of the law!” wrote one user. Another commented: “Oh I’m sure he did being an upstanding fine pillar of society and all.”

Torino has received multiple warnings from RTPD not to post any derogatory comments on their Facebook page. Below a post on a home invasion last Thursday, Torino wrote “You guys suck!” RTPD immediately replied back to Torino saying: “Michael (which might be Torino's real first name), given your veiled threats to residents and officers on other threads, and your inability to engage in constructive dialogue on this page, this is your one warning. If it continues you will be blocked.”

RTPD told International Business Times in a statement that Torino was looking at misdemeanor charges as and when he gets arrested. Also, Torino had reached out to the police department following the fulfillment of the challenge, stating that he will be turning himself in sometime in the following week. A specific date and time was not mentioned.