Six teenagers, ranging in age from 14 to 18 years old, were arrested yesterday for mugging, attacking, attempting to carjack, and overall menacing in Nassau County. And the police say they were inspired by Grand Theft Auto IV.
Newsday reports that police have found three victims--a supermarket employee who was severely beaten (his teeth were knocked out), a woman they tried to carjack, and a man whose car was bashed in--and believe there may be more. They also broke into garages to steal bats and crowbars. Nassau County Police Detective Lt. Raymond Cote said, "They decided they were going to go out to commit robberies and emulate the [lead] character Nico Belic in the particularly violent video game 'Grand Theft Auto.' These teens have difficulty separating fact from fiction, fantasy from reality... It was quite alarming."
Initially, there were four teens who attacked and robbed the supermarket employee. They were going to attack a group of teens, but then realized they were school classmates so they invited them to join in. The suspects are: Dylan Laird, 17; Stephen Attard, 18; Samuel Philip, 16; Brandon Cruz, 15; Gurnoor Singh, 14; and Jaspreet Singh, 17. Jaspreet signed was charged with possession of stolen property while the others were charged with first-degree robbery.
