Man Arrested For Robbing GameStop Via Tunnel

Logan Westbrook

Transform, Roll Out, Etc
Feb 21, 2008
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Man Arrested For Robbing GameStop Via Tunnel

The imaginative thief made off with thousands of dollars worth of merchandise, after breaking through the wall of a neighboring building.



The strangest thing that most GameStop employees have to deal with is the occasional oddball customer or perhaps an inept shoplifter [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/issues/issue_276/8177-Confessions-of-a-GameStop-Employee-Part-Four ]. But for staff at a store in Johnson City, Tennessee, things got way more left field than that.

On January 4th, staff discovered that someone had robbed the store, taking thousands of dollars worth of stock. That would a pretty unusual occurrence all by itself, but the thief had apparently also channeled their inner mole for the attempt, and had tunneled through the wall of store from a vacant building next door.

On January 13th, police arrested 33-year-old Steven Paul Archer, from the nearby town of Chuckey and charged him with felony burglary. According to the warrant, the total value of the stolen goods, plus cash taken from the register, came to nearly $6,000. Staff members at the store have been instructed not to talk about the incident, so unfortunately there aren't any more details, and we don't know how police found Archer.

As criminal plans go, this one was odd, but it's not hard to see what was going through the thief's mind. The store in question is pretty isolated, so no one would hear him working, and videogame hardware and software is worth a lot, but isn't especially large, making it easy to move and sell on. Of course, there's that irritating problem of getting caught - presuming that Archer really is the person responsible - but then again, no plan is perfect.

Source: Kotaku [http://kotaku.com/5733715/one-does-not-simply-tunnel-into-gamestop?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+kotaku/full+(Kotaku)]



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snowman6251

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Nov 9, 2009
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How'd they determine who to arrest? Did the thief actually buy the building he tunneled through? Could he be that stupid? How'd they end up catching him?
 

Aethren

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Jun 6, 2009
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This guy is why being a thief (despite the whole legal issue) would seem like an awesome career.

Well, him and the Ocean's 11-13 movies.
 

Swaki

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Apr 15, 2009
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He made a freaking tunnel for 6.000 dollars worth of games and cash? a crime so small involving so much thought should be forgiven, its like hacking a bank to transfer enough money to your account to pay for a cheeseburger.
 

Reaver3

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Jan 9, 2011
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lol, a quote comes to mind: "The best laid plans rarely make it to the battlefield"
 

IndianaJonny

Mysteron Display Team
Jan 6, 2011
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Do you think we'll see more of these sort of attempts given the recent popularity of Minecraft?
 

Blights

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Feb 16, 2009
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inb4 "He obviously plays too much Minecraft."

That's slightly surprised me, considering thieves normally take a more stealthy approach to stealing, rather than putting a hole in a wall.
 

Quaxar

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Sep 21, 2009
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CNN Newsflash: "Several congressmen stepped forth and demanded the immediate ban of the burglar's recently most-played game, 'Minecraft'. According to specialists it is believed that this simulation in which players dig through different types of ground in search for hidden treasures caused 'some kind of reality distortion' in the burglar's mind that ultimately lead to this vicious crime."

Edit: Damn, writing too slow ruined the pun!
 

Krunkcity3000

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Mar 12, 2008
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Best idea ever. If I start digging now I should reach my local Gamestop by December. It may be the only way I can afford all the great games coming out this year.
 

SimuLord

Whom Gods Annoy
Aug 20, 2008
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Johnson City, TN, eh? I found religion in that town---at a rib shack. They do 'em Carolina style in eastern Tennessee...yum.
 

ultimasupersaiyan

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Dec 9, 2008
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It reminds me of a movie, "The Bank Job" I think it was. I think it's funny how it was only $6000 stolen though. If I was ever gonna steal from GameStop/EB Games I'd steal all the second hand games and leave a typed note saying "Sell only new games you greedy bastards!"
 

Tartarga

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Jun 4, 2008
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Normally crimes involving theft are just boring but every so often you get something awesome like this. Like that guy who stole that professors laptop and sent him a flash drive with all the data on it. I wish stuff like this would happen more often.
 

Sean Strife

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Jan 29, 2010
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Wow, this is a few hours away from me. Give the guy points for creativity, and at least he's not as big of an asshole as that one douchebag who stole those games and game consoles from that children's cancer ward.
 

Antari

Music Slave
Nov 4, 2009
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He wasn't that creative. Bank robbers have done this sort of thing a few times. Watch a few crime shows on TV. Its by no means a new way to break into a place. And if they caught him this quickly, he obviously left something behind that identifies him. Or someone told them to start looking at him.