10 Stolen Controllers, Xbox 420 And One Yellow Bicycle

Crime is a constant feature of video games writing. Somewhere, someone is doing something illicit with them — sometimes comically stupid, sometimes tragic. Games and consoles are currency, objects of dispute, sometimes even weapons themselves. Kotaku‘s Police Blotter is here to round up the latest in games crime.

The Bicycle Thief

VENICE, Fla. — For a month cops pursued a brazen console shoplifter known by his trademark yellow beach bicycle. Tuesday, cops arrested Jerry Arthur Crates, of Nokomis, Fla., and charged him with several thefts. On June 9 they say he put “an Xbox Halo edition gaming device” into a cart at a local shopping centre, exited the store without paying and was seen riding away on a yellow bicycle while carrying the system “valued at $US400.” On June 16, they say he struck again, attempting to shoplift a PlayStation 3, but he was thwarted when a store employee confronted him. Finally, on July 2, cops say Crates made off with an HP Pavilion laptop. A patrol passing by his home saw the yellow beach bicycle in front of his apartment door, and arrested him. He faces three counts of larceny. [Englewood (Fla.) Sun]

The Great Xbox 360 Controller Robbery

SANTA FE, N.M. — Police here are searching for two men who stole 10 Xbox 360 controllers from a Target on Sunday. Cops say the suspects cut open the packaging for each controller and pocketed all 10, somehow, before escaping the store. Store security saw the theft but elected not to confront the men because they were armed with a knife. The getaway vehicle is believed to be a silver-colored Honda Civic with turquoise New Mexico plates. [The New Mexican, Santa Fe, N.M.]

Reeking of Pot is the Least of Its Problems

Quoted in its entirety: “A woman purchased an Xbox from a man off of Facebook. The Xbox was missing the power cord and controllers and smelled of marijuana. Police spoke with the woman about safety precautions of purchasing items off of Facebook and other similar means.” [Terrace (B.C.) Standard]

If You’re Gonna Invite the Cops Over, Clean Up First

NEWNAN, Ga. — Police here arrested a man who reported the burglary of his home and the theft of his Xbox 360. That’s because Christopher James Umbach, according to cops, failed to clear his home of pot and paraphernalia after calling police to the scene. After noticing the evidence of doobage in plain sight, cops got a warrant to search the home, and, reports The Newnan Times-Herald, “discovered a variety of not very well-hidden items,” including bongs, pot brownies, humidifiers, fertilizers and growing equipment and “half a wheel of marijuana ‘butter.’” [The Newnan (Ga.) Times-Herald]

GameStop Robbery Ends in Shootout

XENIA, Ohio — Police say a man armed with a .45 took a GameStop employee hostage and an unidentified video game console and drove off with both here on Tuesday. A patrol then intercepted the suspect vehicle, and the suspect fled on foot before being cornered later. He fired several rounds into the cruiser, shooting out both windshields and another window before being shot himself. Police said the GameStop employee was not harmed in the incident. [WHIO-TV]