Crazy Fool Thinks GTA Improves His Driving
Plus! Yawn! Games demonised in murder case.
A New York man has been sentenced to jail for second-degree assault and attempted first-degree assault after a lengthy 55 minute-long car chase. Tyrone McMillan claimed to the court that he thought he could outrun police because he could do it in Grand Theft Auto.
McMillan has been given two concurrent seven-year jail terms. After serving time, he will be on parole for 10 years. For part of the car chase, McMillan had his girlfriend's 11-year-old daughter and her 10-year-old cousin in the backseat. The girls leapt from the moving car as it was turning onto a highway.
Capital 9 News reports that: “The chase happened on August 5 when police said they tried to pull McMillan over because of a parole violation. He took off in his SUV with his girlfriend's 11-year-old daughter and 10-year-old cousin in the vehicle…. The girls managed to jump from the car while it was moving slowly on a 787 on-ramp.
“The chase went on for a total of 55 minutes, ending when McMillan slammed into two cars -- one of them was a police cruiser. A Troy police officer was treated at an area hospital and released.”
SPOnG has two instant knee-jerk reactions to this story. Firstly, what a c*ck! Anyone who acts like this is clearly - how can we put this politely? - misguided in some fundamental way, and shouldn’t be allowed to have a driver's license or be left in charge of children. We are glad to hear that after serving time, McMillan will be subject to post-release supervision for 10 years.
Secondly, an inevtable sadness, as SPOnG staff exchange knowing glances upon the realisation that the story is sure to be picked upon by Jack Thompson and some of the more sensationalist cable news networks as yet another ‘example’ of why videogames are bad for society – yadda, yadda, yadda, you all know the script.
The bottom line is this: somebody who is clearly deluded got put away for being a dick. Good. Blaming games because he mentioned he thought he could drive in real life as he could in GTA is an over-simplistic way of trying to make sense of why this man has the mental attitude problems that led to this unfortunate event.
In more shocking news, with videogames tangentially involved in the story, SPOnG hears about a fratricide case in Nagasaki over the weekend, in which two teenage brothers brawled over a videogame console, leaving one dead.
Kotaku reports that, "Close to midnight, the siblings (13 years old and 15 years old) fought at home about putting away the video game console. The young brother kicked and punching (sic) his older brother repeatedly and knocked him unconscious. He died hours later at the hospital. A classmate was quoted as saying, “I didn’t think the relationship between the two brothers was bad.”"
A tragic story, and yet again, one which is bound to be used as ammunition for anti-videogame diatribes by misinformed news networks worldwide.
McMillan has been given two concurrent seven-year jail terms. After serving time, he will be on parole for 10 years. For part of the car chase, McMillan had his girlfriend's 11-year-old daughter and her 10-year-old cousin in the backseat. The girls leapt from the moving car as it was turning onto a highway.
Capital 9 News reports that: “The chase happened on August 5 when police said they tried to pull McMillan over because of a parole violation. He took off in his SUV with his girlfriend's 11-year-old daughter and 10-year-old cousin in the vehicle…. The girls managed to jump from the car while it was moving slowly on a 787 on-ramp.
“The chase went on for a total of 55 minutes, ending when McMillan slammed into two cars -- one of them was a police cruiser. A Troy police officer was treated at an area hospital and released.”
SPOnG has two instant knee-jerk reactions to this story. Firstly, what a c*ck! Anyone who acts like this is clearly - how can we put this politely? - misguided in some fundamental way, and shouldn’t be allowed to have a driver's license or be left in charge of children. We are glad to hear that after serving time, McMillan will be subject to post-release supervision for 10 years.
Secondly, an inevtable sadness, as SPOnG staff exchange knowing glances upon the realisation that the story is sure to be picked upon by Jack Thompson and some of the more sensationalist cable news networks as yet another ‘example’ of why videogames are bad for society – yadda, yadda, yadda, you all know the script.
The bottom line is this: somebody who is clearly deluded got put away for being a dick. Good. Blaming games because he mentioned he thought he could drive in real life as he could in GTA is an over-simplistic way of trying to make sense of why this man has the mental attitude problems that led to this unfortunate event.
In more shocking news, with videogames tangentially involved in the story, SPOnG hears about a fratricide case in Nagasaki over the weekend, in which two teenage brothers brawled over a videogame console, leaving one dead.
Kotaku reports that, "Close to midnight, the siblings (13 years old and 15 years old) fought at home about putting away the video game console. The young brother kicked and punching (sic) his older brother repeatedly and knocked him unconscious. He died hours later at the hospital. A classmate was quoted as saying, “I didn’t think the relationship between the two brothers was bad.”"
A tragic story, and yet again, one which is bound to be used as ammunition for anti-videogame diatribes by misinformed news networks worldwide.
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Comments
brandon_r87 18 Apr 2006 21:11
1/2
I feel cheated Spong. A real video game site would at least have the decency to tell which console they were fighting over.
Gah, I'm terrible.
Gah, I'm terrible.
billson 19 Apr 2006 01:23
2/2
That does not ROCK!!