‘Grand Theft Auto 5’ Fans Pose As Cops To Cut Midnight Release Lines
From the archive: published Sep 18, 2013, 13 years ago. Details may have changed since.
Apparently some people really wanted to play Grand Theft Auto 5 but didn’t want to wait in line. Instead of waiting in the lengthy lines outside a Staten Island Mall on Tuesday, three decided to cut to the front of the queue. But they didn’t simply walk to the front. Claiming they were NYPD police officers, the three men succeeded in jumping the line to buy the hot new game. They would have gotten away with it too if it weren’t for those meddling (real) police officers.
Kotaku reports that the three men were arrested by the real NYPD and have been charged for impersonating police officers. Though to be fair, the trio of eager gaming enthusiasts did not seem to originally plan to play cops and robbers before getting home with a new copy of Grand Theft Auto 5 .
One of the suspects, Frank Santanastaso, was the son of a retired NYPD officer, sporting a police shield tattoo on his arm. His friend, Abdel Sayed, an auxiliary police officer, was carrying his badge and ID while the third suspect, Matthew Kirsheh, had his fake NYPD badge with him.
The trio originally drove to the Staten Island Mall to get in line to buy the hot new game. After dropping several friends off, the three went to find parking. The car they were driving, purchased from a police auction, has been described by authorities as appearing identical to an unmarked cruiser, Silive reports.
Understandably, the three were quickly mistaken by mall security as plainclothes officers. They were then greeted by the mall’s GameStop manager, who thanked them for the extra security. Rather than correcting them, the three went along with it. At several points, authorities say, badges were flashed to get them to the head of the line of anxious gamers.
The store manager then agreed to sell them copies of Grand Theft Auto 5 . The three men then left the mall and got in their car to leave. On their way home, thinking they had gotten away with the ruse, they pulled a U-turn in front of a real unmarked police car. They were soon pulled over and arrested. The three men now face misdemeanor charges and up to a year in jail.
The lesson? It’s more fun to break the law in Grand Theft Auto 5 than it is in real life.