Rockstar Games has begun the "viral" portion of its Grand Theft Auto IV marketing campaign, posting convincing wanted posters on Brooklyn-area telephone poles featuring Niko Bellic, the game's protagonist. The poster warns that Bellic is "wanted for questioning in connection with a shooting at a nightclub in the Hove Beach area of Broker" explaining that the perpetrator is of eastern European descent "which narrows it down to about 95% of the Hove Beach community." The poster jokes "Even we can't arrest that many foreigners" and suggests that Bellic be shot on sight.

The GTA IV poster also features an e-mail address and web site for the Liberty City Police Department. While the site isn't currently up, the e-mail auto responder is. The response is after the jump.

Keepin' it classy, as expected, Rockstar.

Thanks for the photo, Chris!