An internet posse of Canadian gearheads used an online forum, Facebook and Google Maps to take down what might be the world's dumbest car thief – and posted video of the arrest on YouTube.

The thief took a tricked-out Nissan Skyline GT-R for a test drive in Calgary and never came back. The owner, Shaun Ironside, 27, called the cops but figured the car was headed for a chop shop, never to be seen again.

Desperate, Ironside posted a thread at Beyond.ca, an automotive discussion forum with 46,000 members. They'd nabbed a hit-and-run driver last year, so if anyone could find the car – or what might be left of it – they could stop the thief, Ironside thought.

"I had more confidence in the forum guys finding the car because I know how many of them there are, and they're all car guys," said Ironside. He owns Envision Auto, where the 1991 Nissan was stolen around 1:30 p.m. March 26.

James Lynch snapped this picture of Shaun Ironside's stolen car – with the alleged thief behind the wheel – after reading about the theft on the website Beyond.ca.

Photo courtesy of James Lynch

The thief would be easy to spot, Ironside wrote in the post, because he's missing the middle and right fingers of his left hand. The car was pretty unique too – a right-hand-drive model imported from Japan. The thread languished until the following afternoon when forum moderator James Lynch happened to spot the stolen Skyline and snapped a picture of the suspect behind the wheel – waving his disfigured hand.

"I pulled out my camera, but I wanted to see his hand, so I did the rock out sign," Lynch, 22, told Wired.com, referring to the splayed finger gesture that's ubiquitous at heavy metal concerts. "He did it back and I saw his hand. I rolled down my window and yelled, 'Nice stolen car!' He's like, 'It's not stolen,' "

The suspect sped off in the turbocharged 400-horsepower car at more than 100 mph, almost running off the road in the process. "He's a lousy driver," said Lynch, who decided chasing him wouldn't be wise. Instead, he called the police and posted the suspect's picture at Beyond.ca.

"Once the picture was posted, it was like throwing fuel on a fire," Ironside said of the thread, which racked up more than 1 million pageviews as automotive sites around the world linked to it. "It just took off."

Someone christened the suspect "The Claw." Several people reported seeing him driving around challenging people to race. Before long, people were raiding his Facebook page and posting his name, address and photos.

The internet sleuths caught another break around 10:30 p.m. March 27 when a forum member called Numi spotted the GT-R outside the suspect's house. Numi couldn't read the address, but reported the general location to Ironside and Beyond.ca. "Next thing you know, there's Google map postings on the site, showing exactly where he lives," Ironside said.

Numi – who could not be reached for comment – met Ironside at a gas station near the suspect's house, but suspect and the car were gone by the time Ironside and the police arrived. Ironside called it a night and went home to bed.

Punit Patel, a member of the website Beyond.ca, was surprised to find the stolen Nissan parked outside the suspect's house, so he boxed it in with his Acura Integra and called the owner of the car and the police, who arrested the suspect.

Punit Patel

The next morning, Punit Patel logged on to Beyond.ca to get the latest on the search. "I figured I'd go by his place and see where he lived," Patel, 20, said. "The car was parked there. I was in shock. I thought he was the dumbest criminal in the world."

The Skyline sat between two pickup trucks. Patel parked his Acura Integra in front of it, and then called Ironside. Ironside arrived 20 minutes later and called the police. The suspect was in handcuffs 15 minutes later; Calgary police identified him as Jamie Jacobsen, 18, and said he's been charged with theft.

As for the car, it'll need a little work before Ironside can sell it. The tires are shot, the alignment is off and the interior reeks of marijuana. But on the other hand, Ironside found $22 and the suspect's New York Yankee's cap inside. He pocketed the money and put the hat on eBay. The latest bid is $265.

"Considering the circumstances," Ironside said, "I couldn't have asked for a better outcome."

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This YouTube video shot by Shaun Ironside, owner of the stolen car, shows the arrest of the suspect.