Lara Croft Mannequin Results In Police Raid And Arrest

from the overreact-much? dept

Thu, May 17th 2007 12:31pm — Mike Masnick

If you thought Shaquille O'Neal raiding the wrong house for child porn was bizarre, how about this next story? Engadget points us to the story of a group of armed police who burst into a house after seeing the silhouette of a life-sized Lara Croft mannequin. Yes, the Lara Croft from Tomb Raider. Apparently, the guy in question had bought the mannequin and was trying to sell it on eBay. His "mistake" was leaving it too close to a window. The guy had called the cops -- but to report some "nuisance calls," which resulted in the police sending someone around to see what was going on. It was then that they spotted the mannequin and thought it was a real person holding a real gun. Now, you'd think that once they realized their mistake they would sheepishly go away -- but instead, they arrested the guy for a "suspected firearm offense." It's entirely unclear from the article if that "suspected firearm offense" is because of Lara Croft holding a fake gun... or because of some other gun in his house, but his lawyers still expect to make a claim for wrongful arrest, no matter what the reasoning.

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36 Comments

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claire rand, 17 May 2007 @ 12:58pm

needs to be made clear this is in the uk..

however its one thing being arrested for 'x', its common to release without charge some time later. I can't see this going anywhere it sounds like plod deciding after making the firearms support call they needed to bag someone for *something* to justify the cost.

the irony of course is the guy the nicked is the one who called them to report something else. bet next time he hears a funny noise he'll ignore it.
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Nick (profile), 17 May 2007 @ 1:02pm

Wait, are you sure this was not in Boston and involved Boston PD? Oh, no, nevermind. They would have blown up the mannequin.
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chucklebutte, 17 May 2007 @ 1:17pm

REM said it best
Its the end of the world as we know it and i feel fine!
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Sanguine Dream, 17 May 2007 @ 1:19pm

????
I'm going to assume that there was a gun elsewhere on the premises. But it wouldn't be the first time authorities got worked up over nothing but stil acted like it was something even after they knew otherwise.
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- You must be related to Nick, 17 May 2007 @ 1:29pm
  
  Re: ????
  So, mr. smarty pants, how exactly did the police know they had "nothing"? They must be able to see thru walls? Holy shit, where do you morons get your educations...
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  - Sanguine Dream, 17 May 2007 @ 1:46pm
    
    Re: Re: ????
    Education isn't the point here its understanding. If you investigate and discover there is nothing and you still act as if something is going down then you knew it was nothing right?
    
    I know you were really amped up for the chance to score a witty remark espcially after reading comment #5. But see along with name calling commentor #5 actually made a counter argument.
    
    Now perhaps if you had questioned my comment instead of blindly attacking me then you may have been on to something but since you just wanted to make a quick clever remark I'll simply tell you to look before leaping next time.
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    - tom, 17 May 2007 @ 3:29pm
      
      Re: Re: Re: ????
      Will you be my friend.
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    - Mike, 18 May 2007 @ 6:23am
      
      Re: Re: Re: ????
      Are you retarded or just have a hard time reading?
      
      How would the police know they had anything, until they actually got inside and saw what was going on? I'll say again, "they can't see thru walls".
      
      I'd have a battle of the wits with you, but clearly you've come unarmed.
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      - Mischa, 18 May 2007 @ 12:56pm
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: ????
        Nope, I'm sorry, I have to agree with Sanguine Dream. This has nothing to do with "seeing thru walls". The point is that after they got inside and saw that they were mistaken, they still arrested the guy.
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- Anonymous Coward, 17 May 2007 @ 4:34pm
  
  Re: ????
  I'm going to assume that there was a gun elsewhere on the premises.
  The article didn't mention anything about a gun, but it did say "...Lara Croft remains impounded as evidence." So it would seem they may intend to charge him with a crime for possessing the doll, I would guess as some sort of "unlawful replica firearm".
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Mike, 17 May 2007 @ 1:28pm

Nick is a moron
I bet if Boston hadn't reacted to a threat and someone got hurt you would bitch then too wouldnt you? But they try and be proactive about something and get pushed under the bus for it. Get a grip you dolt, educate yourself and stop bashing others for "trying" to do right. At least they are trying and not just bashing others.
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- Casper, 17 May 2007 @ 1:45pm
  
  Re: Nick is a moron
  I bet if Boston hadn't reacted to a threat and someone got hurt you would bitch then too wouldnt you? But they try and be proactive about something and get pushed under the bus for it. Get a grip you dolt, educate yourself and stop bashing others for "trying" to do right. At least they are trying and not just bashing others.
  
  Trying to do right? The same week they blew up cartoon characters, they blow up a DOT traffic counter...
  
  There is a difference between caution and paranoia. Seriously, if I pulled the fire alarm every time I thought I smelled smoke or saw a flicker of light that might be a fire, they would arrest me on the spot. Maybe Boston shouldn't blow up everything that looks suspicious (although they don't really have a definition of what is suspicious other then it's a little out of place)?
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- Chronno S. Trigger, 17 May 2007 @ 3:00pm
  
  Re: Nick is a moron
  The road to hell is paved in good intentions. Stop trying to justify an overreaction for something that wasn't a problem 3 weeks before.
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- Stuart, 17 May 2007 @ 3:06pm
  
  Re: Nick is a moron AKA Mike is a moron
  The boston PD are idiots. Unless you think its smart to think that everything is bomb. Is that what you think? You think that the government should have absolute and far reaching powers to keep us safe no matter the cost? Or is it that you are part of the PD there or somwhere else and your stupidity is really just a knee jerk reaction to take the side of PD's everywhere.
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  - Tom, 17 May 2007 @ 3:31pm
    
    Re: Re: Nick is a moron AKA Mike is a moron
    "The boston PD are idiots."
    
    You say that like other police are not idiots. They are all idiots thats why the have to be police.
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rEdEyEz, 17 May 2007 @ 1:33pm

silly Brits
Yeah, get a load of that silhouette.

It wasn't the fake guns the police were interested in, it was her fake plastic cannons!
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GoblinJuice, 17 May 2007 @ 1:37pm

o_O
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- Anonymous Coward, 17 May 2007 @ 2:02pm
  
  Re: o_O
  Wow, that was deep.
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zcat, 17 May 2007 @ 2:08pm

paranoia
"You're more likely to be killed by your own appendix than a terrorist."

Honestly, there are a shitload of things that kill more people than terrorists, and a lot of those lives could be saved at _far_ less cost than the current 'war of terror'. But it's fun to run around with guns and go blowing shit up, right?
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Wyatt, 17 May 2007 @ 2:13pm

Yeah..
Blowing stuff up is part of American life... Bush is just being a good American.
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- Alan the Canadian, 18 May 2007 @ 7:02am
  
  Re: Yeah..
  "Blowing stuff up is part of American life... Bush is just being a good American."...
  
  ...pity the americans....
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  - Anonymous Coward, 18 May 2007 @ 1:20pm
    
    Re: Re: Yeah..
    "Blowing stuff up is part of American life... Bush is just being a good American."...
    
    ...pity the americans....
    Pity anyone who gets in our way!
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Louis, 17 May 2007 @ 2:29pm

Sounds a little bit deviant to me. I bet that guy was a commie in disguise, a real Ruskie lovin' red.
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Major Woody, 17 May 2007 @ 3:25pm

She's a witch!
BURN HER!!!
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- AstralDoors, 18 May 2007 @ 7:36am
  
  Re: She's a witch!
  STONE HER!!!
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  - SomeDude, 21 May 2007 @ 6:35am
    
    Re: Re: She's a witch!
    She turned me into a newt!!!... it got better though.
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T.J., 17 May 2007 @ 3:25pm

Idiots
The first thing that the police should of noted is that if any guy on earth was getting held hostage by Lara Croft the last thing they'd do would be call the police. I know if I was being held captive by Lara I'd be more focused on getting to the liquor cabinet to make drinks then to call the police.
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T.J., 17 May 2007 @ 3:27pm

Also...
Isn't it illegal to prosecute someone for articles found in the house unless they have a warrant specifying the exact articles. IE, I know it's illegal to arrest someone if you have a search warrant to go into their house for illegal firearms and find drugs, until you obtain a warrant authorizing a search for drugs.
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Nick (profile), 17 May 2007 @ 3:50pm

Correction on my part. It was the Boston City Council that decided to let things get out of control.
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Dustin, 17 May 2007 @ 4:53pm

"Isn't it illegal to prosecute someone for articles found in the house unless they have a warrant specifying the exact articles. IE, I know it's illegal to arrest someone if you have a search warrant to go into their house for illegal firearms and find drugs, until you obtain a warrant authorizing a search for drugs."

1. This took place in England; I'm sure their laws aren't the same as America.

2. If a police officer gets a warrant to search a house on 'suspicion of illegal firearms activity' and in the process of their search they find drugs/child porn/bomb making materials/etc... they are well within the scope of the law to arrest the owner of the house. It falls under the "plain sight" rules, if the cop's authorized to search something by warrant or it's in plain sight of a public place they can act on it.
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wrs, 17 May 2007 @ 5:15pm

You know -- the police is always in the right. That's the reason why they're so beloved in the western countries especially civil rights activist love them. ... Dunno, but I think police claiming to be in the right, always, belongs to bad paranoia movies or to dictatorships.
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SFGary, 17 May 2007 @ 5:20pm

@ #1: Good thing it happened in the UK. If it had happened here, the guys might have been shot. Our cops prefer the shoot first approach...
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Chronno S. Trigger, 18 May 2007 @ 5:45am

eBay
"...Lara Croft remains impounded as evidence." '

I bet if they didn't do that the bids would have sky rocketed. I want a full size Laura Croft. Maybe I'll put it in front of my picture windows. (Or at least in the corner pointed at the door.)
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dave williams, 18 May 2007 @ 11:12am

to you all
hi i am the victim! i had no guns found in the house never owned one,i phoned cops for nusance phone call and the next thing i knew i had armed police pointing guns at me!even when they found they had made mistake they still kept me 13 hours and did not let lara go for 5 days and when returnd she had 4 broken fingers to her left had not the one she holds the gun in,thanks for the support
dave
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- Anonymous Coward, 18 May 2007 @ 1:27pm
  
  Re: to you all
  And let that be a lesson to you.
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  - SomeDude, 21 May 2007 @ 6:45am
    
    Re: Re: to you all
    Ahh... sarcasm, the true nectar of life. Gotta love it.
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