How Greg Bennett Helped Police Nab Criminals

The Manzo family friend shares how he used Twitter to help police investigating a hate crime.

By Sabrina Ford Sep 17, 2014, 1:37 PM ET

If we needed a reason to love Manzo family friend and Real Housewives of New Jersey fan favorite Greg Bennett any more than we already do, we’ve got it. Chris and Albie’s brother from another mother is officially a crime fighter.

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On Tuesday, Philadelphia police released video of a group of 10-12 people suspected in a hate crime against two gay men. Greg quickly tweeted the link to his 157k Twitter followers, calling the suspects “pieces of garbage” and assuring one follower, “They’ll get them soon.”

When “a friend of a friend” saw the surveillance video they sent Greg a photo of the group of suspects posing in a restaurant. Greg shared that photo adding, “I wanted to get the word out.” After receiving a slew of positive responses from people in the Philadelphia area Greg tweeted “Philly, I hope you get those guys soon, and I hope they get what's coming to them. Love how you all spread the word.”

The public and law enforcement were able to identify the restaurant in the photo and the suspects were identified. Attorneys for the group, which is accused of attacking the two men so brutally that one of them requires surgery and a wired jaw, have reportedly been in contact with Philadelphia police.

So how does Greg feel about being a crime fighter? We reached out to him and here's what he wrote us:

"Crazy right? I watched the video of the suspects and tweeted a link to it on my twitter. A friend texted me the picture afterward saying their friend saw it online and was having trouble getting in touch with the police at the number they listed, so I tweeted it out next to screenshots of the security video. The guy in the orange shirt was clearly the same one, and I've seen pictures floating around of all the suspects matched in that picture. I read what they did to those guys; one has his jaw wired shut. That could have been me, or any of my friends. You don't really stand a chance when it's 15 on 2."

"I'm pretty sure they've ID'd everyone at this point. I heard last night some had lawyers who had contacted police to arrange them surrendering (That was on a few news sources, you can see them in the Gawker article). I hope they rot in jail! It was nice to use my twitter account to do more than just demand justice for Princesses Long Island and Game of Crowns. Haven't heard from the victims; I wish them a speedy recovery, and hope that restaurant in Philly offering the 10k reward puts it toward their medical bills."

[Source: Philadelphia Magazine]