Twitter user who helped police catch suspects talks to The View

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- A Philadelphia man who used social media to help catch the suspects in the attack of a gay couple in Center City shared his story on The View.

The man, known on Twitter as fansince09, spoke with Rosie O'Donnell Monday morning.

He didn't want to show his face or give his name, but he told the story of how he took it upon himself to do something about the crime that he calls horrific.

"I had a bunch of people retweet it, including a friend of mine who's a Pro Bowl guard for the Eagles Evan Mathis so we got this in front of 100,000 eyes and I figured, the 15 people we're looking for, somebody is going to recognize somebody," he said.

After viewing surveillance video, seeing photos on Facebook, and connecting them to a group of people who went to a specific restaurant, the man alerted investigators, and three people were charged.

Philip Williams, Kathryn Knott and Kevin Harrigan will go before a judge in December.

Defense lawyers say the accused and the victims all played a role in the fight and say sexual orientation was not a motive.