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Facebook Post Over Suspicious Van In Arden Arcade Leads To Arrest, But No Sex Offenders Found

ARDEN ARCADE (CBS13) – A social media post that went viral about a suspicious van led to the arrest of a man, but not for the reason many were worried about.

The Sacramento County Sheriff's Department says they were contacted on Tuesday about a suspicious man driving a brown van in a neighborhood. A concerned citizen who also spotted the van posted on Facebook that the van allegedly belonged to a registered sex offender.

Deputies say the post was shared more than 20,000 times.

Later in the day, deputies got a report that the van was parked along the 2500 block of Arden Way. Deputies responded, found the van and contacted the two people inside.

The van in question. (Credit: Sacramento County Sheriff's Department) The van in question. (Credit: Sacramento County Sheriff's Department)

One of the people inside, 57-year-old Sacramento resident Eugene Melady, was found to be on probation out of Kern County. A friend of Melady, a 57-year-old woman, was also found inside the van.

Neither Melady nor the woman are registered sex offenders, deputies note.

Melady was arrested after a probation search of the van uncovered hypodermic needles indicative of illicit drug use. The woman was released.

The van has been towed from the scene.

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