LOCKPORT — A city man who spent several months on the lam in Indiana, until police tracked him through his Facebook page online, was in jail in Lockport Monday night and will be arraigned this afternoon in City Court.

Christopher K. Crego, 39, considered one of the city’s “10 Most Wanted,” was arrested by U. S. marshals on Feb. 3 in Terre Haute, Ind., after social networking pages, including Facebook and MySpace, created a road map for investigators.

Crego listed his work hours at an Indiana tattoo parlor, boasted of his wanted status and past criminal history, and predicted he would not be brought back to serve time.

Lockport police Lt. Detective John Yotter and Officer Michael Wasik drove to Indiana on Sunday, stayed overnight and drove back to Lockport with Crego on Monday.

“People who were hurt by him were thrilled that we went to get him,” said Capt. Richard Podgers, chief of detectives. “He potentially could spend up to two years in jail.”

Before he left Western New York, Crego pleaded guilty to second-degree assault in Niagara County Court in connection with a November 2008 bar fight. He fled before sentencing.

He also was charged last August with driving while intoxicated and marijuana possession in Niagara County and animal cruelty in Buffalo. In the cruelty case, he is accused of killing birds with a BB gun.

Warrants were issued last October after he failed to show up for court in Buffalo and Lockport.

Crego requested a public defender in Indiana to fight his extradition, but Vigo Superior Court Judge Michael Eldred told him that New York State was going to extradite him and it was best to get his New York case resolved or he would always be a “wanted man,” according to the Indiana Tribune-Star.

Podgers told The Buffalo News last month he considered nominating Crego for “America’s Dumbest Criminal.” Crego’s social networking sites have since been closed or locked, Podgers said.

Crego appeared in court this morning but his arraignment was postponed until about 1:30 this afternoon.