The photo shows Michael Baker, 20, giving the camera the finger as he's in the process of swiping gas from a Jenkins Police Department squad car. Baker told local TV station WYMT that his girlfriend took the pic.
Baker and his girlfriend Joann Sandelin told the station that the picture was meant as a joke. "We was just standing there and thought it would be funny to take a picture and then post it on Facebook," said Baker.
"Yeah, we're sorry, but it was just a joke. I mean if we was going to steal gas, we wouldn't put it nationwide on Facebook. We don't steal anyway, but we're sorry," said Sandelin.
Baker spent the night in jail for the offense. He was charged with theft by unlawful tanking.
The Kentucky native isn't the first to be done in by a Facebook posting. Last month, a Washington state man, Alan Fulk, was charged with bigamy after his wife, Ellenora Fulk, saw a picture of the him getting married to another woman. Fulk had not divorced his first wife.