6 Teens in NY arested for acting out GTA-style crime spree

[NJNetz]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>THE world's top-selling video game has been blamed for a two-hour crime rampage by a gang of six teens in New York.

The gang decided to take Grand Theft Auto IV from the television screen to the streets of Long Island.

In the video game, which has sold more than 8.5 million copies worldwide, players shoot police, sell drugs and car-jack vehicles.

The game, released in Australia last month, is the No 1-selling game on the Xbox 360 console and is rated MA15+ in Australia,

In the real-life re-enactment of the game, the crazed youths' rampage involved mugging, several break-ins and an attempted car-jacking in Garden City.

"They decided they were going to go out to commit robberies and emulate the character Nico Belic in the particularly violent video game Grand Theft Auto," said Nassau County Police detective-lieutenant Raymond Cote.

"These teens have difficulty separating fact from fiction, fantasy from reality. It was quite alarming."

Police said that the rampage began at 11.30pm on Tuesday when teenagers Brandon Cruz, 15, Gurnoor Singh, 14, Samuel Philip, 16, and Jaspreet Singh, 17, were sitting in Memorial Park in New Hyde Park looking for something to do.

Police said the youths decided to act out the game, in which players live out the life of Belic, an Eastern European criminal who uses murder and robbery to rise to the top of the underworld in "Liberty City", which has a close similarity to New York City.

"They were bored and decided this was a good idea," Lt Cote said.</div>
Source

 

[speeds]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>"These teens have difficulty separating fact from fiction, fantasy from reality. It was quite alarming."</div>

So if I want to act a fool in the future, I can just point to some pop culture reference and then boom--I'm blameless? Good to know.

 

[Chutney]

Paging Jack Thompson...

 

[Trip]

This is stupid...

Any kid does a dumb thing and the first thing to blame is some videogame? How about their parents?

 

[Lavalamp]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>"These teens have difficulty separating fact from fiction, fantasy from reality. It was quite alarming."</div>
I just played SimCity 2000 and I scared that there will be spontaneous fires exploding through the city, then an earthquake, UFO, hurricane, and major flood will come, then a Volcano.

 

[speeds]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Locke @ Jul 4 2008, 03:22 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>This is stupid...

Any kid does a dumb thing and the first thing to blame is some videogame? How about their parents?</div>

The parents have to make the case that their kids don't know the difference between reality and what they see on TV, or, they have to make the case that they are incompetent and their kids are retarded. Everybody is a winner!

 

[Lavalamp]

Superman would be a bad choice to try to copy from a video game. Bullets bouncing off of his chest, flying won't work too well.

 

[pegs]

Shit. I hope nobody turns the "move_objects on" cheat while I'm taking a shower... D:

[sims]

 

[GMJ]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (pegs @ Jul 4 2008, 10:55 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Shit. I hope nobody turns the "move_objects on" cheat while I'm taking a shower... D:

[sims]</div>

...I'm giving you a really weird look right now

 

[bbwMax]

Idiots. Not as bad as this story though.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>In the UK, the game was linked to the murder of Stefan Pakeerah, 14, by his friend Warren Leblanc, 17, on the 27th of February, 2004. Giselle Pakeerah, the victim's mother, claimed[13] that Leblanc had been 'obsessed' with the game after he pleaded guilty in court. During the subsequent media frenzy, the game was removed from sale by some vendors, such as the UK and international branches of GAME and Dixons, leading to "significantly increased" demand[14] both from retailers and on Internet auction sites. The police denied any such link between the game and the murder, citing drug-related robbery as the motive. The presiding judge also placed sole responsibility with Leblanc in his summing up after sentencing him to life. It was later discovered that Leblanc didn't actually own the game, but Pakeerah did. It was also found out that Leblanc had previously seen a Chucky film at a theater and it went unnoticed that the murder was identical to one seen in the film; when this became known, Manhunt returned to store shelves.</div>

 

[Lavalamp]

^^ wow.