Kotaku

Grand Theft Grand Theft Auto? LOL!

LoL

Grand Theft Auto IV:
The only game in history to have a police squad and a helicopter look for three stolen copies.

Shame, 27 year old robbing a total of $200 worth of games. Now he's gonna "get it" in jail.

I live about 2 blocks away from where it happened. Because there are two Gamestops across the street from each other I don't know which one was hit. Gamestop the new Starbucks.

What an idiot. Haha.

That's the store where I bought my copy! It's not really a shady area...weird.

@TornadoTK: They probably thought it was a grand theft auto not stolen copies of Grand Theft Auto..... at least I hope so....

@tnx3: - "Gamestop the new Starbucks."

Haha, definitely. You should take a picture of that!

@tnx3: That's true tnx3, I bought mine at the one on the North side of the street, forgot about the south one.

For anyone curious, you can stand in either parking lot and see both stores...it's the weirdest thing ever.

"suspicion"!

And besides who doesn't want to mace a GS employee? He most likely did it in self defence.

man, if a person did that every day for the next 400 years, they just *might* rip off gamestop for more money than gamestop rips off its own customers, and the *game industry*.

oh. Snap.

@Seabass:

My area has four stores within a quarter mile of each other. One in a mall that's on a corner, two across each of the streets at that corner, and one down the street. Kind of ridiculous, but we all continue to do good enough business on our own, so they haven't closed any of them.

Gamestops are a horrible place to work. They install absolutely no security against people attacking you like this, and only pretend to care so you don't sue them afterwards. In the two years I worked for them, I was robbed at gunpoint twice. I should have sued, but I was young and stupid. Dammit.

GTA: Great Tit Arrested.

Yeah, way to make all gamers look bad you dick!

LULZ. Reminds me of the violent tales I've heard back @ ze wii's launch.

Bow & arrow you saiz?

If anything, GameStops are now the new 7-11.

Dumb shit.

What a tard.

Goddammit, GTA.

Well, I guess they can't blame THIS one on the game- I mean, if he was stealing it then he probably didn't own the game so I don't suppose it could have influenced him in any way???

/personally I think the only reason, if any, that such real-world violence is attributed to GTA games is the media's own fault. All the news stations keep repeating: "GTA IV is the most realistic murder-simulator ever made" and things like that. All the media hype got me so excited that had GameStop not had my copy (maybe sold it to a walk-in?) when I arrived yesterday who knows? I might have been so crushed that I laid waste to the whole store! I wouldn't want the game so badly to BEGIN with if it weren't for the hype stemming from the same media sources that shun the game!

The man got a three-star wanted level for using a freakin' can of mace?!

...I'm actually kinda impressed. :P

What a fucking shithead. Seriously. What almost-30 year old man maces someone for videogames? I hope dies a virgin. Douche.

That's what he gets for eating in a public place while he had 5 stars! Also, he should've at least used the assault rifle instead of mace (if not the rpg.)

Makes you want to sit down with this guy and figure out what he was thinking. Honestly, I'm curious as to what he'd say....then again maybe he's just that dumb.

I think we all know the answer.

@Troubadour: Damn you're right...you get helicopters at only 3 stars.

Jack Tompson paid him to do it.

This kind of act perpetuates the stigma that mature games incite crime and violence.

It does annoy me in that sense. However, with the shady business practice that Gamestop uses it's hard to feel bad.

I mean, what's the point of reserving a game and getting told you're "guaranteed" a copy on release when the company will disregard this just to boost their store numbers on people who walk in?

I'm sure someone one day will sue Gamestop saying they breached a "verbal contract" when their reserved game is given away to someone else because they had to wait a couple days after release for their paycheck.

@Luv2Hate: I doubt he'll be a virgin very long where he's going...

Oh wow

Look! He's trying to get the Japan GTA hypetrain going prematurely by getting arressted at a Japanese BBQ after stealing the games.

Whaddamaroon.

Wait, there's Japanese BBQ in San Diego? I could totally go for some of that after a long night of GTA induced psychopathy.

I too live in SD, and they call the helicopter in for just about any attack on another person(s), where the assailant runs away.

I assume he stopped where he did because the mace was getting to him so much that he couldn't drive. A lot of times when someone uses mace/pepper spray they get enough on themselves so that when their adrenaline starts to wane the spray affects them, too.

Gamestop employees usually deserve it, but theft is wrong.

Nothing like stealing and taking your Toyola for 3 Star wanted level.

Two things

1. 27 years old and stealing games?.

2 That county must have some great financial backing for the local PD. Cruiser and a Bird?, even if the Bird was circling nearby, for a mace to the mouth and 3 games?.

Passerbys and Motorists in the commute might have thought it was a homicide of some sort.

Could he possibly be any more pale? He's practically glowing in the sunlight.

Two or three copies of the game? I don't know who's dumber the police or the criminal. On the one hand you have an extremely petty theft, on the other you have taxes WELL spent. I realize that if the police hadn't had the helicopter they might not have caught him but still.

is it me or does the expression of the suspect give off a tom-cruise-in-MI-3-esque look?

I saw this on CNN before work. Kinda funny, he was acting like a little kid in the back of the police car. screaming at the camera men to stop filming (because for whatever reason, there were several media outlets there when it happened) and even resorted to spitting at the cameramen

This is proof that GTA doesn't influence violence and crime.

Because if it did, criminals wouldn't be so dumb to pull such crazy heist violence just to get away with a couple of fucking games.

Seriously, don't assault people ever, but if you're going to pull a robbery, don't attack the victims over freaking chump change.

Dial 'D' for 'Douche'.

I'm pretty sure they didn't send the bird in for the theft. They probably sent the helicopter because of the assault. Things seem to spiral out of hand quickly in these situations (Say the assailant has something else going on in his life and is just starting with macing some GS employees), and so to stop the situation from escalating to more people being assaulted, homicide, and/or suicide they bring out the helicopter.

I never did understand how densely packed everyone is until I moved to San Diego. Even a unprepared person with a lot of anger and a weapon can cause a lot of harm/death to a significant number of people in little to no time here in just about any commercial/residential setting, because there are so many people all located in the same are.

I'm not saying this is what is going on here, but it is my take on why the police do what they do here.

Isn't that the kid from American Idol? Why would he throw it all away like that? He seems so sweet.

guess he forgot to preorder....lololololol

Police choppers just seem to follow every little thing in their area, doesn't matter how big, doesn't matter if it's even a crime. They just follow you around with that damn big light till you get your own big light and shine it back at em. Seems to scare them away for a few min.

seriously wtf?

Did anyone who wanted a copy on launch day, not get one?

I thought this was news about a new mission for DLC

@kw4k: I was getting more of a Scott-Wolf-in-Party-of-Five vibe from him.

@Dumari: - "Jack Tompson paid him to do it."

Oh come on, don't be an ass.

Wait what? You mean this guy stole the latest edition of one of the most violent video game series ever and he didn't even use a GUN?

But I thought violent video games made you want to go on killing sprees, not macing sprees...what gives?

10:30 AM on April 29th; he didn't even try to get them early. I'm sure before the weekend many players were dreaming about knocking off their local Best Buy. =)

the weirdest thing in this news story is the japanese BBQ joint... I've never heard of anything like it...

if he can afford Japanese BBQ, I think he can afford the games.

You stay classy, San Diego...

I imagine the 911 call going like this:

GS> Hey, yeah this is Gamestop Mike, we just had a guy mace me and steal Grand Theft Auto
911> What is the adress
GS> San Diego Gamestop
GS> Please hurry.. my eyes!
911> Police are on Its way sir, stay calm!
GS> Management Is gonna be pissed
911> Dont worry sir, is the car is insured.
GS> My car? Why, yes I have insurance..
911> Which way did he drive off?
GS> Lady.. I was maced.
911> Sorry sir
911> What kind of car was it?
GS: Huh?
911> The car, what color did It have?
GS> What?
911> Sir, you said Grand theft auto?
GS> Yes, Grand Theft Auto 4
911> a Ford?
GS> What? No.... oooh
911> Sir?

when the cops saerched him, they found the GTA4, and the mace... but they asked if he could find one more thing for them that apparently he had lost..... his dignity.

You wanna know how to rob your local Gamestop?...

Wait for the store to close; climb to the on to roof; with a sledge hammer and shovel, dig through the ceiling.

Man, I wish I was there. That would have kept things interesting while waiting in line....
Then again, the lines went by pretty