Wow...Roommate Mike Rhoton said Strickland was unarmed, but may have been holding a video game controller when he went to the door as it was bashed in by officers.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061204/...ystation_theft
Note to self: not that I would be expecting them anyways, but if the police knock on my door, put down my game controller or remote before they enter. Yikes.
WILMINGTON, N.C. - A teenager accused of robbing a student of two new Playstation 3s on the day the popular game consoles were introduced was shot to death by police sent to arrest him.
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Peyton Strickland, 18, was killed Friday at a house he shared with three roommates, New Hanover County Sheriff Sid Causey said.
"If this boy would've come to the door, opened the door, we probably wouldn't be talking," the sheriff said Sunday.
Roommate Mike Rhoton said Strickland was unarmed, but may have been holding a video game controller when he went to the door as it was bashed in by officers.
Authorities promised Monday to fully investigate the fatal shooting. "No one is above the law and no one is beneath its protection," District Attorney Ben David said. He declined to discuss details of the case.
The State Bureau of Investigation is examining the case and three deputies on the team were placed on paid leave, normal practice whenever officers fire their weapons, Causey said.
Arrest warrants alleged that Strickland, a student at Cape Fear Community College, and a University of North Carolina-Wilmington student stole two PlayStation units from another UNC-Wilmington student that day.
The sheriff said the robbery victim had waited three days in line to buy two Playstation 3 units for $641 each at a Wal-Mart. He was unloading the units at his campus apartment when one man beat him to the ground while another took the PlayStations, Causey said.
The sheriff said Strickland was shot by members of a a special police unit who went to help university officers serve warrants. He would not say why the special team was assisting.
Strickland's dog, a German shepherd, also was shot to death.
The second man named in the warrants was arrested at another address and was released on bail on Saturday, authorities said.
The nationwide introduction of the Sony game system on Nov. 17 was marked by rowdy crowds and store stampedes. One buyer waiting in line at a Connecticut store was shot by armed robbers.
Wow...Roommate Mike Rhoton said Strickland was unarmed, but may have been holding a video game controller when he went to the door as it was bashed in by officers.
I feel bad about the dog.
The way a controller is held kinda looks like a weapon. Still, getting popped for a PS3 is a nice story to tell in Hell.
"Yeah, so I was playing Mobile Suit Gundam on my 'new' PS3 and commenting on how shitty it was, when all of sudden the cops break down my door. Next thing I know, I'm in Hell. So, what do you guys do here?"
"We are forced to play Mobile Suit Gundam all day."
"Noooooooooooooo!"
R.I.P. Paragon Studios
So.... who gets the PS3?
I have no sympathy whatsoever for the kid. There is nothing worse than a thief, especially from your fellow man. Stealing from a trans-national corporation is somewhat more acceptable, because it is faceless. But stealing from a person who probably busted their ass for the money to have that PS3? That shit is just wrong, and if you have such little regard for your fellow man that you can approach him as he unloads the stuff he bought and then proceed to just beat the shit out him and take it, then maybe you deserve to die. One less stickup-boy that I have to deal with.
Seconded. Poor dog.
Agreed, especially considering what he did, while heinous, was not an armed robbery/shooting like what happened in Connecticutt. Last year back in my hometown, a kid got beaten for his 360. I don't know how or if it was resolved. But unless the perps from that case were armed and hiding in a meth lab, knowing how level headed most of our police here seem to be it would not have gone down like what happened to the PS3 punk.Sounds like the cops overreacted a touch if they're already on paid leave.
I wish the story was more clear on what happened before they decided to bust down the door. Maybe he was ignoring their warnings to open. But the way they handled it as presented in the story sounds more like a swat team raid in a hostage situation. But yeah, he was an idiot for going to the door with a game controller in his hand when he surely knew it was the police.
Last edited by 1CCOSA; 04 Dec 2006 at 08:51 PM.
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