He said he’d turn himself in for 1,000 shares, with donuts. No one thought he’d do it

The power of social media is hard to overstate. It can raise millions of dollars for charitable causes, get you fired, influence elections and have real-world effects on your social life.

Add to that list: Convince wanted men to turn themselves in – and bring donuts and a bagel.

The Redford Township Police Department in Michigan accepted a man’s challenge on Oct. 6 to get 1,000 Facebook shares. If they did it, he said he’d turn himself in, bring a dozen donuts and clean up litter around the city’s schools.

“That’s a promise ... Let’s see if you get those shares,” a man identified as Champagne Torino told them in a Facebook message.

Torino was wanted for a few misdemeanor charges, according to CBS Detroit, but police would not specify what they were.

The post was shared more than 1,000 times within an hour, and more than 4,000 times by Tuesday. But both the police department and commenters were doubtful that Torino would follow through.

“He may or may not be a man of his word. It is our experience everyone gets caught at some point,” the department said in a follow-up post. “He has drawn a lot of attention to himself, and that makes it hard to hide from reality. The important thing to be seen here is the support of the community, and the desire to help.”

Another Facebook post showed his mugshot and said to look for him in the “Redford/Livonia, area, or possibly local donut shops.”

On Monday at 6:30 p.m., Torino actually showed up at the police department – with a dozen donuts and a bagel. His Facebook name was a pseudonym; his actual name is Michael Zaydel.

“He walked in on his own, and not only did he bring the donuts, he brought one bagel!” the police department wrote in a post. “We would again like to express our gratitude for the support of all who followed this, shared it, and left us positive feedback.”

Zaydel told 7 Action News he was planning to turn himself in all along, but “I never expected it to get this big.”

The comments on the post were mostly positive. Turns out, people respect even those charged with crimes for keeping their promises.

“A man of his word, I respect him for that!” one wrote.

“This has to be a first! lol Hey whatever works, right?” another wrote. “I hope he gets less time for bringing the doughnuts... and keeping his promise to turn himself in.”

Zaydel, 21, has a hearing Tuesday morning, the police department said. It’s unclear what will become of his promise to clean up litter around schools.

This story was originally published October 17, 2017 at 5:02 AM with the headline "He said he’d turn himself in for 1,000 shares, with donuts. No one thought he’d do it."