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According to a report from a Bellevue, WA news station, four boys, ages 11 through 15, were recently charged with armed robbery after allegedly holding up a local Chevron Food Stop using an airsoft pistol. The goal of their crime of the century was to yoink enough money to purchase an Xbox 360. According to the police report, the boys got away with around $200 -- just enough to purchase a 360 Arcade and no games -- before being caught by an officer shortly thereafter. The amount of thought that went into this thing is just staggering.

By a stroke of coincidence, four men across town were apprehended after robbing a local GameStop to garner money with which to purchase Slurpees and Taco Dogs at a nearby Speedway. More at eleven.

Not only are publishers trying to prevent the sale and distribution of R4 game copying devices for the Nintendo DS, but illegal importers are going to jail. GamePolitics reports that UK resident Yun Can Meng was sentenced to a year in prison after he plead guilty to importing over 26,500 R4 cards for distribution.

ELSPA's Director General Michael Ralinson said the organization was "pleased" with the outcome and the court's robust enforcement. If you're a UK resident in the R4 business, consider this a big flashing warning sign to find another business with lower risk -- like insurance fraud.

Ah, the Red Ring of Death. Most cursed malady of this console generation, maligned by the casual and the hardcore alike! But for all the frustration the Xbox 360's three lights of crimson chaos have caused, here's a little good: If it weren't for a certain RRoD in Florida, one Michael Dunbar would never have been brought to justice. Dunbar was accused of stealing the console and pawning it off to a shop, but without the serial number, police told the victim that they couldn't bring him in. Fortunately, the victim's grandmother suddenly remembered she'd sent the system in for an RRoD, and a phone call to Microsoft later, they got a serial number, Dunbar was arrested by the police, and we assume the console was returned to its rightful owner.

Little consolation, we're sure, for the eight painful weeks you had to wait while your Xbox was sent back to Microsoft for repairs (two separate breakdowns for me personally). But it's good to hear that someone somewhere has been helped by Microsoft's RRoD exchange process.

We're not experienced in the crafty art of breaking and entering, but we certainly understand the draw of games. That's why this story out of a Chicago suburb really didn't surprise us so much. See, some guy broke into a young woman's apartment over the weekend and proceeded to steal her stuff, but upon seeing her DS, took a break from his heinous law-breaking to check out what the handheld had to offer.

It gets even more interesting, though. While he was engrossed in whatever DS game she had in the system, she ended up coming home from running errands, spooking the burglar. He then made off with only her pink iPod Touch, leaving her with a ransacked house and, thankfully, her DS system. We just hope he at least had the decency to not save over her game.

[Via Yahoo; thanks, Greg D]

(An excerpt from "How The Grinch Robbed 200 Houses and Cars in the Bronx.")

Then he slithered and slunk, with a heart black as onyx,
Around the whole room, stealing all electronics!
Laptops! Fax Machines! iPhones! Three-sixties!
(The latter of which would prove fairly tricky.)
And he stuffed them in bags. Then the Grinch, very nimbly,
Stuffed all the bags, one by one, up the chimney!

And what happened then...?
Well...in Who-ville they say
The Grinch played that Three-sixty,
and without delay --
the Westchester bobbies, with Microsoft's aid,
located the Grinch-lair, and began to invade!
And they brought back the toys! And the tell-tale console!
And the Grinch went to jail. (He'd skipped out on parole.)

[Via HotBloodedGaming]

The common criminal is getting smarter, folks. If the results of a recent FBI study on property crimes (published by USA Today) are any indication, professional thieves have learned that yoinking video game consoles is a much more lucrative venture than stealing ceramic tchotchkes from grandma's mantle. According to the report, gaming console theft has increased 285 percent over three years, from 11,074 cases in 2007 to 42,615 cases in 2009.

Sure, this increase could also be attributed to the larger install bases of these consoles, but given our paranoid nature, we're more inclined to believe that criminals are just getting better at their jobs. Of course, there's a simple way to counteract this rise in theft: Just live in a state of constant, apprehensive fear. We don't think it's too -- did you just hear something?

Last December, the Entertainment Merchants Association (EMA) called for the development of technology to prevent stolen disc-based software from being used without being "activated" at retail, as detailed in a report by Video Business. Edge Online now reports the EMA has released results of a study it commissioned that show retail, game publisher and movie studio revenue could increase by as much as $6 billion if "benefit-denial" technology could be applied to games, DVDs and Blu-ray Discs.

The issue isn't piracy in this case; it's shoplifting and the current measures used to prevent such theft. EMA president and CEO believes that if technology can "eliminate barriers erected to deter shoplifting, consumers will have easier access to the products, additional retail channels will carry these products, and costs will be eliminated from the supply chain."

Much in the way that stores must activate a gift card before it can be used, the EMA's proposed system would require games and movies to be scanned at checkout before use. There really are more questions than answers at this point. Will discs sold online be pre-activated? Will every copy of a game have a unique serial number? The only immediate solution we can think of is a car wheel boot -- but, as comical as it would be, that wouldn't conform to the EMA's requirement that packaging size must be unaffected.

How can we tell that the dude who attempted to rob a Pittsburgh GameStop last night is a real gamer? Just look at his methods: The would-be burglar climbed through air ducts and in through the ceiling of the store, Sam Fisher-style. But when he realized that both the front and back doors of the building were locked, he retreated through the same vent.

A Nintendo Game Counselor consulted about the crime said that if the thief had looked inside the glowing sphere in the corner of the store, he would have found a blue key for the door. Ouch, random criminal, so close.

[Thanks, David]

For the first time in the nation's history, a couple have been caught selling counterfeit DS systems. The dastardly duo set up shop in Kent, and were nabbed with 40 counterfeit handhelds. The two were unloading the units on unsuspecting eBay shoppers, with Bromley Trading Standards Department and local police catching the criminals.

On top of the systems, the bust also resulted in the capture of faulty power units, game-copying devices, and 150 counterfeit games for the DS and GBA. Authorities suspect the couple made upwards of £50,000 during the month of December alone, and have been at this for at least two years. Remember, kids: crime doesn't pay. Unless it's the month of December and you're willing to go to jail for a long time the following month.

During a recent home invasion at an apartment complex in Palm Beach County, Florida, a man was brutally beat and shot in the bicep by multiple assailants. They sought a variety of his valuables, demanding jewelry, money, and other items from the victim before attacking. In the end, the robbers made off with about $70 and his Nintendo Wii.

The two individuals could not be identified by the victim, who was last listed as stable in St. Mary's Hospital. The two robbers made their way into the apartment through an unlocked door. It goes to show that if you live in an apartment, always lock your door. Also, don't let anyone see you throwing away a Wii box.

[Via Go Nintendo]

You can't get much lower than this. A retirement home in Ottawa, Ohio, was recently robbed for its Wii. Two women walked into the retirement home, seeking job applications, but ended up leaving with more than a job. They nabbed the home's Wii console. As one might imagine, the folks at the home enjoy playing Wii Sports, particularly the Bowling and Baseball games.

Thankfully, this story has a happy ending. Several of the home's inhabitants were able to identify the two women, and police were able to track them down and recover the Wii.

See also: Children's home robbed, local businessman replaces stolen Wii

It's good to know the holiday season wasn't all fist-fighting and theft, as a real heart-warming story has emerged from the UK. You see, last weekend, the Hunter family had left home to attend a wedding, only to return and find their home had been broken into and trashed. As one would expect, a few items were missing, most notably the Nintendo Wii Santa left for their two young children.

Enter Dundee businessman Charlie Kean of Kean Slaters, who stepped forward (among the many other local individuals who've helped this family get through this tough time) to provide the family with a new Wii, as well as some games. Currently, the criminals have yet to be apprehended by authorities.

A couple of criminals recently hit a Gamestop, snatching up as many Wii and PS3 consoles as their thieving little arms could carry. It's not disclosed where this Gamestop is located, so we can't pinpoint the place this robbery occurred, but know that these two dudes made off with quite a considerable amount of consoles. Sadly, the authorities have not caught up to these two yet. So much for a happy ending, eh?

Head past the break to see the store surveillance footage catching them in the act.

Memphis is a beautiful city with no real crime, which is why it's so shocking to hear what a sting operation against local GameStop stores turned up. Eight GameStop employees have plead guilty to buying "stolen" video games from undercover police officers. The video game pawn shop retail chain has agreed to suspend "cash-for-trade" (???) transactions in Shelby and DeSoto County, Mississippi, until February 2009.

The defendants, none of whom have previous criminal convictions, will serve a year of probation, which can result in their record being cleared. Not to say the company's suspension of trade-ins is pure kabuki, but next to eBay, GameStop has always been an awesome place to unload stolen games -- just don't bring 16,000 copies of Brothers in Arms in at one time.

[Thanks, Chuck]

Here's a strange story: a truck full of PS3 games was stolen twice, the second time from the cops themselves. The Sun reports that "the lorry" carrying £600,000 ($1.08 million) in games was originally stolen while the driver was resting. After it was recovered by the cops, it was then stolen a few hours later from a "tightly-controlled" police compound. The truck was later found completely empty.

The police claim that arrests have already been made, but it isn't clear if they're in relation to the first or second theft. The authorities also say they're keeping an eye on eBay. How efficiently can one fence seven pallets (tens of thousands) of games?

[Via GI.biz]