Possibly True Crime for the Buying

Last night, we did a double take while watching WNBC News at 11 because reporter John Noel was interviewing a man who made a DVD of supposed actual crimes, like robberies, carjackings, and possibly a murder, in progress (here's the WNBC video). Of course, it's called Criminals Gone Wild, and DVDs are $26.98.

Noel asked the Brooklyn resident behind the DVD, Ousala Aleem, if he actually did film a murder. Aleem says, "Well, the thing is, I was pretty much at the wrong place at the right time, if you want to put it like that. I was interviewing people and things just started to happen." He claims he's sold thousands of copies, telling the Daily News, "The minute you come out with crime footage everybody wants to buy it. My pockets are fat now."

The police are investigating whether the footage is real, but the Daily News spoke to someone who claims he was once robbed by one of the alleged criminals on the DVD. And if crimes were actually committed, well, Aleem could be in trouble, because with knowledge of a crime taking place (versus just happening upon a crime), he may face criminal liability.

And Aleem said, "It's sad, but these people really don't care, they just want to be on TV. I get phone calls from people who say, 'Come over to my part of town if you want to see some real crime.'" We suggest this follow-up to Aleem: "Criminals Gone to Jail!"

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in News on December 12, 2007 5:56 PM

Comments [rss]

rdc

I'd be afraid to give that guy my address. Would hate to wind up on Volume 2: Home Invasion Edition.

zodak

don't snitch, son!

Politburo

iralarry: I believe the investigation would focus on whether or not he had prior knowledge of the crimes.

BongoBoy

Methinks Mr. Noel was fooled.

And he doesn't suffer fools lightly.

Excepting his boss, of course. We all have them, though mine never wore a diaper on television ...

iralarry

The issue here is not whether this is hoax or reality gone wild, it is the possibility that if these were real crimes and they were recorded that he stands to be prosecuted.

I once read of a crime that occurred in Las Vegas in which a friend entered a rest room where his friend was raping and murdering a young child. He did nothing to help or hinder. An attempt at prosecution failed because standing by while a crime is committed is not a crime. It may be a moral outrage-Kitty Genovese-but not criminal. So how can they say they will investigate and seek charges?

ed_Extinct

here's an idea... why not send these brave muthafuckers to war... then we'll see who the real fools are.

JacqueMehoff

WABC one upped the other outlets by interviewing one of the "actors" in the DVD.

emphatically stated that it's all acting and blanks.

Spear_Chucker

Just download it. Why support this crap with your hard earned cash?

freddyhere

The perfect stocking stuffer for the family back in the Midwest - is it available at WalMart?

Snoopy

Unfortunately sorry to say there are a lot of idiots out there that for a few minutes of fame they will do stupid things.

Witness that guy, whatever his name was, out where ever it was in that mall somewhere in the midwest that killed all those people because he wanted to be famous. What's his name again?

Spear_Chucker

Anyone have a torrent of this?

Spear_Chucker

I mean what idiot would let anyone videotape them committing a felony? Only dumbass mofos. Seriously.

I'm leaning on haox, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was real. If it is real, shouldn't Aleem be capped by now? It's gotta be fake. They can't be THAT stupid. Can they????

I'm just sayin'.

Spear_Chucker

Either this is a hoax or that it's really true about what they say about these people's IQ.

I don't know. I'm just sayin'.

King Kong

The production value of the promo piece is great. I'm sold.

Toby von Meistersinger

Given the writers strike, it is only a matter of time before this becomes a weekly TV series. Just imagine how cheap it would be to produce!

westernqueensland

This is a spectacular case of post-modernity; a fictional medium transmitting real crime. I think there was a movie about a ghetto videographer: Tresspass. Walter Hill Flick. It was fun to watch with Ice T and Ice Cube, 1992 I think.