8 Crazy Times Video Games Got Someone Arrested
advertisement
VOICE OVER: Ashley Bowman
WRITTEN BY: Mackenzie Houle
Video games are NOT a major contributor to violent behaviour, but that doesn't mean that video games can't be involved in illegal activity. Here are 8 examples of when video games lead to someone being arrested!
8 Times Games Got Someone Arrested
Just because you can break the law in games, doesn’t mean you should in real life. Welcome to MojoPlays, and today we’re going to take a look at eight times video games got someone arrested.
For this list, we’re looking at the cheaters, leakers, and strange occurrences that resulted in someone getting arrested.
Using and Selling Cheats
Cheating in a video game is obviously prohibited, but where do you think most people get their cheats? Programmers delve into a game’s data to create workarounds to give people an “edge” - at least that’s how they view it. Aim-bots, wall-hacks, ghosting, and no-clipping are just a few of the common cheats. Well, for these three kids in 2014, the consequences of cheating were a little worse than a simple ban. Not only did they sell the cheats for the game “Sudden Attack,” but they also used them for themselves. Needless to say, their cheating and vendor days didn’t last, as the police had the trio arrested on charges of obstructing business.
Playing Pokémon GO in Church
Since its release, “Pokemon GO” has nabbed several people in hot water… almost all of them being their own fault. From wandering into bad areas, to walking down a highway, this game took staring at your phones to a whole new level. Unfortunately for one man, he was playing in the wrong place, at the wrong time. Making international headlines, Russian YouTuber Ruslan Sokolovsky was arrested for simply playing the game in a church under the pretext of “inciting religious hatred”. We know laws in Russia can be a bit extreme, but this was on a whole ‘nother level.
Leaking Half-Life 2’s Source Code
Video Game leaks have been going on for decades, sometimes small screenshots, other times an entire demo. Despite their practices, Valve wasn’t always the Fort Knox of secrets, and was the victim of a German hacker stealing and leaking the ENTIRE source code of “Half-Life 2” online back in 2003… a whole year before the game was released. What followed was an expert sting operation, by none other than Valve itself, as they managed to entice the leaker to join the company’s security team, and planned to have the FBI arrest him when he arrived in the states. This almost Hollywood-like story, however, was cut short by German government nabbing him.
League of Legends DDOS
To all the “League” fans out there, we know “League has been DDOS’d several times, unfortunately, the perps have not always been caught... except for one named Shane Stephen Duffy. For those who don’t know, DDOS, or Denial of Service, is essentially when someone floods servers with so much traffic, they inevitably crash or are forced to shut down. While Duffy clearly wasn’t the only one involved, he assisted not only in DDOSing “League” back in 2013 but also stole user information -including credit card data- before he was arrested. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to two years, but was immediately paroled and managed to avoid jail altogether.
Modifying Game Consoles
Playing pirated games on consoles is impossible, but a few modifications here and there, and it’s illegally ready for action. People like Matthew Crippen decided to make a business out of it, charging people to modify their consoles so they could download and play games for free. With video-recorded evidence and witness testimonies, you’d think this would be an open-and-shut case; but this is one arrest that didn’t result in a conviction. Due to an omission of evidence in using pirated games, the case was dismissed a year later in 2010.
Noise Complaint
This one’s a bit off the beaten path as the gamer wasn’t the only one arrested. After a noise complaint was filed in 2015, Twitch streamer Mr. Big was taken into custody during a stream. It’s no surprise that a Twitch streamer would be loud, but the story doesn’t end there. The stream still on, a neighbor went into the open apartment and robbed Mr. Big… in front of the live stream. Needless to say, the cops had all the evidence they needed to find and prosecute the thief, and the Twitch streamer returned with no conviction. Strange how one arrest can lead to another.
Shooting AR Zombies
With AR games on the rise, “The Walking Dead” had cashed in, and Sean Small wanted to record a video of himself shooting zombies in the game… in school. This was deemed inappropriate by the school, and rather than just sitting down and talking to the kid, they actually had him arrested on charges of “intimidation”. We understand shooting of any kind in a school is in bad taste… but for playing a video game, perhaps a school counselor would’ve been better.
World of Warcraft Child Neglect
While video game addiction is certainly real, it’s no excuse for what this couple did to their children. Stuffing the two children in a dirt-filled home where they couldn’t attend school and were never allowed to leave for 3 years is horrifying enough, but their reason was even worse - they imprisoned these children, so they could remain at home, unemployed and collect on welfare checks to play “World of Warcraft.” Thankfully this couple was arrested and convicted in 2014. We get it, video games are really fun and can take up time in life, but they should NEVER come before caring for another human being… ESPECIALLY your own children.
Just because you can break the law in games, doesn’t mean you should in real life. Welcome to MojoPlays, and today we’re going to take a look at eight times video games got someone arrested.
For this list, we’re looking at the cheaters, leakers, and strange occurrences that resulted in someone getting arrested.
Using and Selling Cheats
Cheating in a video game is obviously prohibited, but where do you think most people get their cheats? Programmers delve into a game’s data to create workarounds to give people an “edge” - at least that’s how they view it. Aim-bots, wall-hacks, ghosting, and no-clipping are just a few of the common cheats. Well, for these three kids in 2014, the consequences of cheating were a little worse than a simple ban. Not only did they sell the cheats for the game “Sudden Attack,” but they also used them for themselves. Needless to say, their cheating and vendor days didn’t last, as the police had the trio arrested on charges of obstructing business.
Playing Pokémon GO in Church
Since its release, “Pokemon GO” has nabbed several people in hot water… almost all of them being their own fault. From wandering into bad areas, to walking down a highway, this game took staring at your phones to a whole new level. Unfortunately for one man, he was playing in the wrong place, at the wrong time. Making international headlines, Russian YouTuber Ruslan Sokolovsky was arrested for simply playing the game in a church under the pretext of “inciting religious hatred”. We know laws in Russia can be a bit extreme, but this was on a whole ‘nother level.
Leaking Half-Life 2’s Source Code
Video Game leaks have been going on for decades, sometimes small screenshots, other times an entire demo. Despite their practices, Valve wasn’t always the Fort Knox of secrets, and was the victim of a German hacker stealing and leaking the ENTIRE source code of “Half-Life 2” online back in 2003… a whole year before the game was released. What followed was an expert sting operation, by none other than Valve itself, as they managed to entice the leaker to join the company’s security team, and planned to have the FBI arrest him when he arrived in the states. This almost Hollywood-like story, however, was cut short by German government nabbing him.
League of Legends DDOS
To all the “League” fans out there, we know “League has been DDOS’d several times, unfortunately, the perps have not always been caught... except for one named Shane Stephen Duffy. For those who don’t know, DDOS, or Denial of Service, is essentially when someone floods servers with so much traffic, they inevitably crash or are forced to shut down. While Duffy clearly wasn’t the only one involved, he assisted not only in DDOSing “League” back in 2013 but also stole user information -including credit card data- before he was arrested. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to two years, but was immediately paroled and managed to avoid jail altogether.
Modifying Game Consoles
Playing pirated games on consoles is impossible, but a few modifications here and there, and it’s illegally ready for action. People like Matthew Crippen decided to make a business out of it, charging people to modify their consoles so they could download and play games for free. With video-recorded evidence and witness testimonies, you’d think this would be an open-and-shut case; but this is one arrest that didn’t result in a conviction. Due to an omission of evidence in using pirated games, the case was dismissed a year later in 2010.
Noise Complaint
This one’s a bit off the beaten path as the gamer wasn’t the only one arrested. After a noise complaint was filed in 2015, Twitch streamer Mr. Big was taken into custody during a stream. It’s no surprise that a Twitch streamer would be loud, but the story doesn’t end there. The stream still on, a neighbor went into the open apartment and robbed Mr. Big… in front of the live stream. Needless to say, the cops had all the evidence they needed to find and prosecute the thief, and the Twitch streamer returned with no conviction. Strange how one arrest can lead to another.
Shooting AR Zombies
With AR games on the rise, “The Walking Dead” had cashed in, and Sean Small wanted to record a video of himself shooting zombies in the game… in school. This was deemed inappropriate by the school, and rather than just sitting down and talking to the kid, they actually had him arrested on charges of “intimidation”. We understand shooting of any kind in a school is in bad taste… but for playing a video game, perhaps a school counselor would’ve been better.
World of Warcraft Child Neglect
While video game addiction is certainly real, it’s no excuse for what this couple did to their children. Stuffing the two children in a dirt-filled home where they couldn’t attend school and were never allowed to leave for 3 years is horrifying enough, but their reason was even worse - they imprisoned these children, so they could remain at home, unemployed and collect on welfare checks to play “World of Warcraft.” Thankfully this couple was arrested and convicted in 2014. We get it, video games are really fun and can take up time in life, but they should NEVER come before caring for another human being… ESPECIALLY your own children.
