Teen says game inspired crime spree

[LazyReaper]

I thought I'd share this little article with you guys.


From CNN.com (http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/fun.games/11/14/teen.game.ap/index.html):

KENOSHA, Wisconsin (AP) -- Authorities say a teenager told them a video game about stealing cars inspired an auto theft spree involving about 100 vehicles.

Nineteen-year-old Micah Zoerner of Somers, Wisconsin is charged with numerous counts of theft, burglary and auto theft. He's being held in lieu of a 15-thousand dollar cash bond.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for November 20th.

He was arrested Friday when officers in the village of Pleasant Prairie spotted him breaking into vehicles parked at a local apartment complex.

When he was arrested, Zoerner had a vehicle that was reported stolen a week earlier from the same complex.

Detectives say he told them he'd been inspired by the video game "Grand Theft Auto."

Two other teens, one 18 and the other 19, were also apprehended but have not yet been charged. Comments?

[The Penguin]

I think it was on the account of the fact that he's stupid, but that's just me. :rolleyes:

I never agree with video games, movies and the like being blamed for society's problems or for bad kids who did a bad thing without parental supervision but this kid is 19!!! If he is still being this "influenced" by video games I have no sympathy for him.

He is using an excuse plain and simple. I'd like to think no one is that stupid, but I can't do that.

[Evil Dr. Reef]

>Insert random "Video Game Violence" rant here<

Christ... I hope the judge that gets this case has at least an ounce of common sense, and sees through this lame defense.

[czyznyck99]

If he were 15, then maybe I would only send him to juvie hall.

But he's 19, and saying that a video game inspired a crime spree is just no excuse for his actions. He's going to jail, end of story.

Now, the blaming of video games should be fairly obvious. This is exactly what "ban video game" people want to hear to raise lawsuits and create public mayhem. It's fodder, and should be ignored.

Later.

[JDuncan]

That's about as plausible as the guy suing the gov't over "America's Army".

[Chris Sanders MSX]

I heard about this and I think he's full of it. It's a game! If what he says is true he's just a friggin idiot. I still think he's just looking for a scape goat.

Still if things influence him so easily how come he didn't become a cop(every kid has played cops and robbers) or a plumber or try some of the stunts on Stunt man or how about completely skipping the whole videogame genre completely and try dodging bullets in slow motion like in The Matrix. :rolleyes:

[Botman]

It's obvious what this guy is trying to do...

He screwed up, the cops took him down, and now with this excuse, he wants to take every gamer in America down with him...

Just my opinion though...

[Conekiller]

I hope I get to be a juror in this F---er's trial, he's soooo goin down!

after all the things we gamers do to (or not to do) to get games more accepted, we get dumbasses like this idiot over here who wants to ruin for us all. I'm sick and tired of hearing all of these "video games made him do it" BS!

[coolman86]

I totally agree with you, i'm sick of going to target and not being old enough to buy a m rated game when two years ago i could, people in polotics are stupid.

[James]

The end of the article should have read:


Detectives say he told them he'd been inspired by the lack of parenting skills and unaddressed social behaviour.

Any influence the game will have stemmed from the issues above first and it's those problems that need addressing. If 99.9999 of players don't steal cars, then there has to be an issue external to the game. It's so illogical to blame the game if you look at it like that.

[Mad Mary Kidd]

I'd like to see someone try to use this defense, borrowed from another forum site. (It's in spoiler space to avoid outright offending someone.)

"I didn't mean to kill my brother! I just got the idea from this book... I think it was called the Bible or something..."

It's been like this since the 80s--games are the national scapegoat because people have been getting progressively dumber (the rise of the Soccer Mom in the McMansion shows this). I'm numb to it, sorta, but the thought that someone out there is looking at this and smugly shouting, "See?! I KNEW that game was EEEEVIL!" is what upsets me*.

*Ten bucks to a dime this person's in Bryn Mawr, Soccer Mom capitol of the USA.

[Dark Spider]

Boy is this going to cause some possible problems. We all may think the kid is dumb and video games are not to blame, and its true....but the people who can make the decisions on the situation will think the kid is dumb and video games ARE to blame.

Hopefully, these situations will end here with this kid. Because if there are enough of these dumb kids around, it will be more than enough fuel for the soccer moms.....and that's if this situation isn't fuel enough....

[Marc]

I'd almost guarantee instances like this one will continue to occur now and then, but I'm also certain they will never affect the video game industry.

We've seen countless examples like this before, like the Columbine kids who claimed they were inspired by The Matrix, or that kid years ago who killed himself because he thought he could fly like Superman, or that other teenager who killed that little girl by powerbombing her multiple times claiming to be inspired by pro wrestling. These are horribly tragic events, but they are the product of sad, disturbed human beings.

Tipper Gore has fought for years, and while she has had small victories here and there like the music industry's parental advisory labels and the video game rating system, that's as far as things will go. The majority of the American people will not stand for censorship, end of story.

- Cap

[Robin2099]

Oh brother. An 18 and a 19 year old are arrested for trying to steal multiple cars. Like everyone else has said, if there that old they should no better than to do that. GTA had nothing to do with it. I really wish I was able to make this jury.

[The Jinjo]

Well, if he's doing it, we should too! If you steal a fruit, blame it on Yoshi's Story. If you build a wall in front of someone's house and they are trapped, blame it on Tetris. In other words....


The guy was looking for a way out of jail.

[Rabbiterose]

:dot:

What a coincidence. This reminds me of yesterday's Rudy Park.

See here http://www.comics.com/comics/rudypark/archive/rudypark-20021117.html

[EightOh]

how about completely skipping the whole videogame genre completely and try dodging bullets in slow motion like in The Matrix. You know, that's not a bad idea. Take him out back, then have a guy about 10 yards away from him say, "Hey moron, dodge this," and shoot. We'll see just how influenced he was, after all.

[Sandro]

It's dumb asses like this that prevent us from progessing any further in the realm of video game violence.

[ToonamiFanatic]

yeah it could be that he is trying to take down all the gamers with him saying GTA: VC inspired him to break into cars and stuff.


but on a little side note. I posted a link to the same story and this thread gets more replys. nothing wrong not mad or anything just kinda think its funny in a sort of odd way :D

[Artimus Gigan]

Maybe he should be punished like they do in Grand Theft Auto...

Rocket Launcher, Machine Gun, Pistol, take your pick...

[JohnCrichton]

It's an excuse.

Kid that old knows that the media eats that "video games made me do it!" crap up for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Had he just taken his punishment like a man, he'd just be another dumbass kid.

But saying the popular, "video games made me do it!" now he's a CNN headline.

So if you ever get caught doing a crime for whatever reason and you want to get on the news, say video games made you do it.

Maybe after your next speeding ticket you'll make national news!

[ToonamiFanatic]

Maybe after your next speeding ticket you'll make national news! [/B][/QUOTE]

little off topic
yeah that game Grand turismo game is the reason I got the speeding ticket :rolleyes:

[SpaceCub]

inspired an auto theft spree involving about 100 vehicles

Wow, does "involving" mean he actually stole 100 cars? If so, I'd have to tip my hat to him... and then give him a Frankenstiener for being an ass for blaming games.

---
Jane: "Hi Lazlow, I love the show, I'm a first time caller. I wanted to say something about these videogames, they are warping our kids minds. My sons dog, Bugle, got hit by a truck, and he says 'Mummy, mummy, where's the reset button?.' Kids these days, they think life is a game. Well it's not a game Lazlow. It is very, very serious. I let my kid play video games, and now, he runs around the house looking for gold coins. This is teaching our children to go chase money. My eldest has been playing this new videogame, called Pogo the Monkey..."

Lazlow: "Yeah, I've heard of that one..."

Jane: "The shop teacher called me today, and Sam made a home-made banana cannon in shop class, and was lobbing them across the street at a fast-food restaurant. And it's all because of videogames. Lazlow...life does not have a reset button!"

Lazlow: "Right, but this show does..." *beeeeep* "I love that button."

[unknown hero]

just another stupid punk teen with a stupid, stupid excuse

for this i blame stupid punk teens for stupid punk teens

[Novdeloth]

Yeah, and Soul Reaver I and II inspired me to suck souls out of the living and tape a cattle prod to my arm. :rolleyes:

[mpm5528]

Honestly, what is wrong with people like this? They think that they can do anything they want as long as they can blame it on something ridiculous like video games…

This kid obviously wants attention… A handful of nuts in millions of gamers actually take the kinds of ideas portrayed in games like GTA seriously. I play games for fun – not to be influencedon how to live my life. IDIOTS like these DO NOT represent the majority of the gaming community.

:mad:

[cross blues]

Originally posted by Artimus Gigan
Maybe he should be punished like they do in Grand Theft Auto...

Rocket Launcher, Machine Gun, Pistol, take your pick...

pistol, then flamethrower, then rocket launcher :) then maybe run over the remains with a car, just for spite

if he was influenced by the game, shouldn't he have realized eventually the cops come and kill you? (well they try)

[Novdeloth]

Originally posted by mpm5528
This kid obviously wants attention… A handful of nuts in millions of gamers actually take the kinds of ideas portrayed in games like GTA seriously. I play games for fun – not to be influencedon how to live my life. IDIOTS like these DO NOT represent the majority of the gaming community.

*applauds*


Originally posted by prozzak
if he was influenced by the game, shouldn't he have realized eventually the cops come and kill you? (well they try)

*applauds again*

Great points, mpm5528 and prozzak! *standing ovation*

[Zorak Owns All]

People are stupid. About 99% of people that play games, aren't murderers/go on crime sprees. To have a video game affect you, and cause you too kill someone, you'd have to be in someway screwed up in the first place...I play video games, and you don't see me killing everyone. Almost any mentally stable person that played a video game, wouldn't react to it...besides, if someones crazy, they're going to kill someone whether they play Grand Theft Auto or not, they might just kill them in a different way. The media, parents, and the Government just need something to blame, and the new "fad" seems to be to blame videogames. Before it was music, now its games, and next..who knows what it'll be.

I think its time to stop blaming video games, and start blaming parents for letting their child, who already displays violent characteristics, play Mortal Kombat.

Thank you.

[mpm5528]

I think its time to stop blaming video games, and start blaming parents for letting their child, who already displays violent characteristics, play Mortal Kombat.

There's nothing wrong with Mortal Kombat. :) I feel that the psychotic gamer is much more to blame than the innocent parents. The parents probably did nothing wrong and therefore shouldn't be held responsible for the stupidity of their ADULT (over 18) son. I think that a nineteen-year old ADULT can make decisions for himself. It is the gamer's own fault – not the fault of his parents, “Zorak Owns All.” He chose to commit the crimes and now he, not video games, should be held responsible.

[pabcool]

My 2 Cents On This: Sure, I Believe Him. And Strech Panic Made Me Kill People With Oversized Chests.