The Official PS3 Incidents Thread

mikeohara

mikeohara

CAGiversary!
Since this thread is not endorsed by Cheapy or any of the CAG moderators, this will be a consoldated topic area for PS3 launch-night incidents (i.e. shootings, fights, etc etc). If you have any reports of anything that happened while camping out for your PS3 or while getting your PS3, please post in the thread and I'll update as necessary.

Mods: Please move thread as necessary to compliment the forum rules and regulations.

Gainesville, TX - Reports from CAG electroslag are that a shooting took place at the local Walmart while people were waiting for the PS3 to go on sale @ midnight. He also reports that the police department is interviewing people in line, and is promising pictures. Since the topic was posted, electroslag has posted pictures showing the police outside of the Wal-Mart in Gainesville, which can be found in the links thread below.

Lexington, KY - reports from CAG Dead of Knight via GamesAreFun that a car drove past the Best Buy with someone firing from a BB gun.

Elk Grove, CA - reported by CAG Roufuss via CBS13.com of a robbery of a area Gamestop where several PS3 systems and XBox 360 systems were stolen.

Eugene, OR - reported in another thread by CAG Chacrana via KMTR News 16 of three men who were robbed at gunpoint while waiting for a PS3.

New York City, NY - reported on the Playboy Blog as well as the website of the New York Post, there have been reports of scuffles at the Sony store in Times Square while waiting on the PS3 to go on sale.

Fresno, CA - reported below by CAG MSUHitman, rioting broke out at the Best Buy in River Park (I actually have been to this store) after the crowd of 50 people waiting in line for a PS3 were told there would be only 35 units available for sale. The crowd bumrushed the store entrance according to reports from KMPH 59, forcing the store manager to flee and close the shutters blocking the entrance, then calling police. Fresno police then called the line an "unlawful gathering" and ordered the line to disperse, using batons on those who didn't obey the officer's commands. CAG zewone has posted cell phone clips detailing the experience outside when the police showed up in Scorch's thread.

Boston, MA - reported below by CAG lordwow, the Best Buy at Landmark Centre was forced to close down their midnight PS3 launch by the Boston Police Dept, citing public safety concerns and paperwork that had not been filed at the office of Mayor Thomas Menino. This is a good thing in my opinion because it prevents fellow gamers from getting hurt.

Putnam, CT - reported below by CAG Monsta Mack, Connecticut state police have confirmed one person was shot overnight at the local Wal-Mart while waiting in line to purchase the PS3. The person shot has not had his condition released to the media at this time, but it has been confirmed by the AP and WTNH.com.

Wayne County, MI - a witness account from CAG the3rdkey has stated his brother has been arrested for making threats to the staff of the local Toys R Us when said brother attempted to purchase 12 PS3s.

Englewood, OH - reported below by CAG jezebelseven. Local police are looking for two men who held up a local EB Games and took 5 PS3 units according to WHIO-7 TV.

West Bend, WI - reported by CAG MSUHitman, a customer racing to the front of a Wal-Mart to buy a PS3 was injured when he was pushed into a flagpole by another customer. Said customer is currently hospitalized with a dislocated jaw amongst other injuries, meanwhile the person who pushed the aforementioned customer was not arrested and not charged with a crime.

Manchester, CT - reported by CAG LinkinPrime, a customer who walked out of an EB Games was surrounded by five men, and then was beaten and his PS3 stolen.

Wilmington, NC - reported by CAG StingerMCK, a person who bought a PS2 from a local Walmart was surrounded by four men, who proceeded to hit him with a blunt object and stole his PS3.

New Hanover, NC - reported by CAG StingerMCK, a warrant was served on an armed robbery suspect who stole two PS3s and was subsequently shot and killed.

Thread Links:

Dead of Knight's PS3 thread: http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=115332

Electroslag's PS3 Thread:
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=115445

Article from Roufuss: http://cbs13.com/local/local_story_320195924.html

Article from Chacrana: http://www.kmtr.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=006518A0-7413-4424-AD12-A235C95257D7

Article from the Playboy Blog (maybe NSFW): http://www.playboy.com/go/blog/magazine/Modern+Wizardry/2006/11/16/Doing-Lines.html

Article from NY Post: http://tinyurl.com/yxzuqt

Article and Video from KMPH Fresno - http://www.kmph.com/

Thread started by CAG Scorch - http://cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=115463 (zewone's videos are on page 2 on the thread, about 1/2 way down)

Article from Monsta Mack: http://wtnh.com/Global/story.asp?S=5696085

Article from jezebelseven: http://www.whiotv.com/news/10340455/detail.html

Article #2 from MSUFanatic: http://www.themilwaukeechannel.com/video/10339676/index.html

Article From LinkinPrime: http://wtic.com/pages/127158.php?contentType=4&contentId=243055

Article from Stingermck: http://appserv02.uncw.edu/news/article.asp?ID=2046

Yet another Article from Stingermck: http://www.wect.com/global/story.asp?s=5760421
 
gonna bump the thread back up to the top for more reads and replies, also ... I will be updating the thread for another two hours before I hit the sack ... so send your stories in so they can be posted! I'll update the thread every 30 minutes or so with the latest information.
 
A Homeless person got a blowjob for his spot in line at the WLA BB, does that count ;)?

As I picked up my PS3 a cop was called away to the la cienaga Circuit City, Apparently a riot occured there as well. Also I heard the palmdale BB also had a driveby BBgun shooting and some people were sent to the hospital.
 
http://www.ksdk.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=107722

(Click on video link upper right of story.)

http://cw11tv.trb.com/entertainment/news/la-ps3-pg,0,4192022.photogallery?coll=kplr-home-3

(Assorted pics)

http://cw11tv.trb.com/entertainment/news/stv-watercooler-mmg,0,3970545.storygallery?coll=kplr-home-3

(Click video on right)

NC Senator John Edwards (Kerry's VP Candidate) sent an office worker to Wal-Mart to try to get a PS3, just one day after criticizing the company.

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/11/16/D8LEJIOO0.html

http://www.kmph.com/home/4674536.html

Riot at BB in CA.
 
holy fuck ... thanks MSU :D

and thank you to the Mod (I'm guessing DaPhatty here) who moved my thread and stuck it at the top of the PS3 forum :D

I'll be updating the first post here very quickly.
 
Boston CANCELS BB Midnight Sale, Send Everyone Home:

Police send PlayStation line packing
Midnight sale halted for lack of a permit

By Hiawatha Bray, Globe Staff | November 17, 2006

Hundreds of soggy videogame buffs were sent home by Boston police yesterday after waiting for hours in front of the Best Buy electronics store in Boston's Fenway neighborhood. The gamers had been hoping to be among the first to own Sony Corp.'s new PlayStation 3 videogame console, which the Best Buy store had promised to begin selling at midnight.

But somebody at Best Buy didn't fill out the proper paperwork. Boston requires retailers to get a special permit before holding special sales. This gives the city a chance to arrange for police protection and traffic control. "It's a public safety issue," said Dot Joyce, press secretary to Mayor Thomas M. Menino.

Game fans began camping out in front of the store Wednesday night. By yesterday afternoon, the crowd had swollen to several hundred, and was obstructing the sidewalk outside the Landmark Center complex that houses the Best Buy store. Joyce said the city responded to complaints about the crowd from area residents, and ordered the Best Buy store to cancel the midnight sale. To mollify the crowd, Best Buy employees passed out rain checks to the first 100 people in line, saving their spots until the store re opens legally at 8 a.m. today.

In a statement from its corporate headquarters in Minneapolis, Best Buy backed the city's decision to shut down the sale. "When authorities feel they have to step in and help with a situation outside of our store, we are fully supportive of their actions," the company said.

Gamers who wait until today to look for the machine probably will be out of luck. Sony officials have said that they expect to deliver only about 400,000 PlayStation 3 consoles to the United States during its first weekend on sale here. The company had fewer than 100,000 for its Japanese customers when it went on sale there last weekend; they were all sold by Sunday.

There were long lines last night at Wal-Mart stores in Raynham and Salem, N.H., which both planned to start selling the new PlayStation at midnight. But because both stores are normally open 24 hours a day, they didn't need special permits.
Click to expand...
 
From the first news video post-
"shared a tent with a guy i just met last night"

I guess PS3 inspired violence, robbery, and homosexuality? lol
 
man i knew this would happen but you know i really hoped it wouldnt. im just glad for the most part its over now but i cant help but to think the worst isnt over yet. i feel sorry for those who bought a ps3 and dont meet the ebay requirements to sell one there lol. also gay as it may sound it good to know none of you here waiting for a ps3 didnt get hurt cause it could have been alot worse even though it was horrible.
 
the local Best Buy/Circuit City here in the towns surrounding will be opening in about 60 minutes to sell their PS3 allotments (the stores here are getting around something like 15-20 per store).

Looking back on the events surrounding tonight's launch of the PS3, we have seen and heard through various accounts from fellow CAGs and news sources in several states. Every single incident in the first topic should be taken very seriously ... It is a very bad thing when fellow gamers are having to take serious steps to protect themselves when they are waiting in line to purchase a console with the name recognizition of the PS3. Something that's been completely overlooked as well as a well-known midwestern retailer (Nebraska Furniture Mart) has donated it's entire PS3 shipment to charity.

My conclusion: I hope that with the incidents that took place tonight will make major retailers seriously re-consider their policies about "camping out" for a console and also reconsider their pre-order policies. I am personally happy that the city of Boston, the Boston PD, and Mayor Mendino's office took the steps they did at the Landmark Centre Best Buy and closed their midnight sale down. All gamers should be worried about their safety first and foremost, not how much their $500 or their $600 console will fetch on eBay.
 
You know what really pisses me off about this launch? My guess is that if you take out all of the Ebay douchebags and leave gamers in line, 85-90% of this violent crap is gone. It just gives gamers a bad name.
 
It drives me crazy when the news prints something like "Hundreds of soggy videogame buffs..." It should read "Hundreds of opportunistic assholes..."
 
I had a feeling something was going to go down in Eugene. Of course, there could still be more ugliness during the day as alot of stores haven't even opened their doors yet (it's 7:31 AM).
 
[quote name='JJSP']I got offered a 97 Ford Escort last night for mine from Craigs List.[/quote]

Trade one soon to be broken POS for another soon to be broken POS. Sounds like a fair trade to me, lmao!
 
[quote name='Dead of Knight']The Boston mayor is Thomas Menino, not Mendino. He's Italian, not Hispanic. ;)[/quote]

I fixed the spelling of the mayor's name ... thank you for the correction Dead :)
 
this may not really count as an inciddent but it was definitely funny as hell:

At about 2am at the bestbuy in west LA on pico and sawtelle, there was this one really really drunk dude, he was drinking vodka and orange juice, and had put something like 9 parts vodka for every 1 part of OJ. When the sprinkler system went off he would stand on top of the sprinkler and point it so the water would hit the people in sleeping bags. He then ran out into the street and was stumbling pretty bad and then started trying to run in the street and dodge cars and finally ate shit in the middle of the intersection. He no doubt had asphalt burns from that but it gets better(or worse?)


At this poing, his friend eventually took him home(after having to tackle him from keeping him from running around like a lunatic and the drunk dude was apparently even more stupid on this ride home. He kept trying to get out of the car while it was still moving. He eventually got out and ate it really bad and was bleeding, He also got pretty beligerant with his gf for trying to clean his wounds,

People were taking pics of this with their cellphones and one dude tried to film him, but it was too dark for get anything good.
 
[quote name='dracula']this may not really count as an inciddent but it was definitely funny as hell:

At about 2am at the bestbuy in west LA on pico and sawtelle, there was this one really really drunk dude, he was drinking vodka and orange juice, and had put something like 9 parts vodka for every 1 part of OJ. When the sprinkler system went off he would stand on top of the sprinkler and point it so the water would hit the people in sleeping bags. He then ran out into the street and was stumbling pretty bad and then started trying to run in the street and dodge cars and finally ate shit in the middle of the intersection. He no doubt had asphalt burns from that but it gets better(or worse?)


At this poing, his friend eventually took him home(after having to tackle him from keeping him from running around like a lunatic and the drunk dude was apparently even more stupid on this ride home. He kept trying to get out of the car while it was still moving. He eventually got out and ate it really bad and was bleeding, He also got pretty beligerant with his gf for trying to clean his wounds,

People were taking pics of this with their cellphones and one dude tried to film him, but it was too dark for get anything good.[/QUOTE]

hhahaha I remember that guy, he almost got run over by a car.

if nothing else, WLA was definetly one of the more amusing places to line up ;) and best of all nobody shot at us and we had LAPD SWAT there

whee we got in a pic

http://news.yahoo.com/photos/ss/eve...hotos_lf_afp/e0146ccceb1b1153bddb687a11a10e6f
 
at this time, I am gonna request that a moderator lock this topic, as the launch day proceedings have come to a close.
 
[quote name='mikeohara']I fixed the spelling of the mayor's name ... thank you for the correction Dead :)[/QUOTE]

No problem, dude. The only reason why I know this is that my aunt worked at the Boston Redevelopment Authority, which is located in the same building as the mayor's office, for like 20 years before retiring, so she talks about the mayor and Boston politics all the time.:lol:

I'm surprised there have been no reports yet of anyone dying, but I suppose that is a good thing.
 
Here's a story reported from Gamestop as posted on Sony Forums:

Hi my name is Corte' Campbell. ANd I was mugged in the entrance of Buckland Hills mall in manchester,CT.
It was by 4 or 5 black guys. (I am black myself, incase someone thinks i am racist). As i picked up my reserve at 10 am this morning at my eb games inside the mall. I walked outside and saw about 5 guys. I walked past them and they got up and followed me they were waiting for me to get to my car, but i knew something was up and tried to run back inside the mall for safety. Being too slow(carrying the PS3 and games) the surronded the door. (no police nor security in sight and otherjust walked by not careing). They try and grab the PS3 out of my hands and say "Give me that **** I didnt and a struggle broke out after much punchs to the head and ribs i feel over the sidewalk and into the road pleaing for help.

FInally a couple helped but it was too late as thier gettoway car was already running and drove off. 1 guy fell out of the car cause it was moving to fast and started to run. Polic caught him and that was that. In the end I lost 800 dollars Eb nor the mall will refund anymoney and even if they caught all the guys there is a slim chance of me getting back my products. All and all i was thankfull they didnt have any weapons. But i am upset angry. 800 dollars is alot to me and i was saving up for it for over a year. i traded in all ym systems games and movies for nothing. I have never been robed before and until this time I was against guns.

Now things have change I felt weak( even though it was 5 on 1), and felt like there was nothing i could do and that there will be no compensiaon for it. Right now my girlfriend is calling the mall gamestop corprate and sony and if I can get anything or something. That saying crime doesnt pay is complete BS. I am seriously thinking about buying my first gun and learning how to use it to protect myself or laws about it. This story is not a lie believe me or not I dont care I just felt like venting and sorry for the curse words. Make fun of me if you want too I dont care. I might be on the news I was interviewed. and no I am not the guy who got shot in pluntmen , CT.

If they had a gun I would have prob died, after this I dont know i am extremely depressed. If anyone has extra systems could i please by one off of you at a reasonable price ? I am not sure what kind of money I can scrape up but i can sell one of my comps and 1 of my tvs and see what i will have then. i just feel like **** I work real hard and save for this and it is just gone and i dont even get money back or anything.
Click to expand...

Ok so he said that it took him a year to collect $800 and now he'w willing to buy another one at a "reasonable" price? If it takes him a yeart to collect $800, how long would it take him to pay off the system if someone was to offer it to him? :whistle2:k
 
My favorite part of that story is in the beginning when he says "It was about 5 black guys. I am black myself in case anyone thinks I'm a racist."

fucking hell. Nobody is going to think you're a racist for describing your attackers. Some people take this P.C. stuff way too far.
 
[quote name='norkusa']My favorite part of that story is in the beginning when he says "It was about 5 black guys. I am black myself in case anyone thinks I'm a racist."

Nobody is going to think you're a racist for describing your attackers. [/QUOTE]

You'd be surprised.
 
[quote name='mikeohara']at this time, I am gonna request that a moderator lock this topic, as the launch day proceedings have come to a close.[/quote]

Yeah, god forbid people might wanna discuss these things! :roll:
 
"They try and grab the PS3 out of my hands and say "Give me that **** I didnt and a struggle broke out after much punchs to the head and ribs i feel over the sidewalk and into the road pleaing for help."

This from the LinkinPrime post is sad because this idiot wasn't smart enough to just give up the material thing in his possession to save himself from harm in the first place.

I just don't understand why people just don't wait until the hysteria dies down to spend money on this shit because you know after a while they will be readily available.
 
just a general FYI ... I will not edit the first post for stories that cannot be independently confirmed ... that means the following:

Stories that cannot be confirmed through area media in regards to where and when the incident occured. Simple forum posts on Sony's forums will not suffice for confirmation of a robbery of someone's PS3. The only exception is if a CAG sends me a PM detailing the incident from an eyewitness point of view, at which time the first post will be updated.

When this story is independently confirmed through local media, the story will be added. Until then, it is treated as a hoax and an attempt to get a cheap PS3.
 
When I picked my PS3 up today at EB (about noon - gotta love preorders), the store manager had left to go to one of the three stores in the district that had been robbed during the night and totally cleaned out of PS3's and 360's.

I haven't heard anything more on this, but that's what I was told by the assistant. Apparently at one store, they stole the hardware and then proceeded to break anything they could find.

TBW
 
[quote name='mikeohara']
Article from jezebelseven: http://www.whiotv.com/news/10340455/detail.html
[/QUOTE]

Thats the ebgames I go to all the time. The employees there know my name, and I know all of theres. Man I hope they're alright. This one guy named Corii is always working late or till close and he always spells your name wrong. Everytime I pre-order something I have a new spelling to my name. We bust his ball about it. Hope he's okay though.
 
i can't wait to read about the lawsuits filed because of all this...starting with the people who got kicked out of that CA line (who was covered by tomshardware) because then BB and other companies started allowing camping even though they said its Corp policy not to allow camping.
 
hey has anything happened in Northern VA or did we all behave our selves last night? I slept through the entire thing because I have a life and have to work in the morning.
 
[quote name='CitizenB']Thats the ebgames I go to all the time. The employees there know my name, and I know all of theres. Man I hope they're alright. This one guy named Corii is always working late or till close and he always spells your name wrong. Everytime I pre-order something I have a new spelling to my name. We bust his ball about it. Hope he's okay though.[/QUOTE]

They're having a preorder party tomorrow night at 9 (Andy called to tell me), so I imagine everyone's okay-- I thought about asking while I had them on the phone how everyone was but I didn't want to sound like I was just being a nosy random, but I figure the topic will pop up at the party tomorrow night.

Dunno if you're going to it tomorrow (No idea if it's open to everyone or just if its people who preordered the wii only or whatever), but if you're there, say hi to the chick with black glasses. I imagine I'll be the only one there in that, at least.
 
[quote name='JJSP']I got offered a 97 Ford Escort last night for mine from Craigs List.[/QUOTE]
I take that back.

The offer became a 98 Ford Escort + $150 cash.

Insane.
 
Just saw this on my local news, Wilmington, NC. Sorry, theres no video posted on their site yet, but heres what was said:

"Police say at 12:15 am, 15 Min's after it went on sale 4 men robbed a UNC-W student of two Playstation's he had just bought at Wal-mart"

From the UNCW website:

http://appserv02.uncw.edu/news/article.asp?ID=2046

At 12:15 a.m. Friday, Nov. 17, four white men in a gold-colored sedan robbed a UNCW student at a parking lot on campus of the two Playstations he had just purchased at Walmart.

As the student was removing the items from his trunk, he was approached by one man, between 18 and 20 dressed in dark clothing, who hit him repeatedly with a six-inch blunt object, knocking him to the ground. A second individual took the second Playstation, and they drove off.
 
Pretty terrible experience for me too!
Woke up at 9:30 this morning with my gf, picked up our preorders, sold both for 3500 cash.
Oh yeah, and I had breakfast.
 
[quote name='mikeohara']
and thank you to the Mod (I'm guessing DaPhatty here) who moved my thread and stuck it at the top of the PS3 forum :D

[/QUOTE]

You are welcome. :D
 
fucking lame they closed all the riot / shooting topics and didn't even bother to merge them. of course this is the PS3 board which everything is lame!
 
Well I knew it would eventually happen, someone killed over the PS3. This is from the same incident i posted above. Kind of ironic though, you assault someone for a PS3 and then get killed holding the controller.

EDIT: Article now requires registration, posted in its entirety below

Full Article : http://www.wilmingtonstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061203/NEWS/612030440

TV report: http://www.wect.com/


Deputy kills teen while serving warrant
New Hanover deputies were helping UNCW police make arrest in PlayStation theft case

By Veronica Gonzalez

A New Hanover County sheriff's deputy Friday shot and killed an 18-year-old man suspected in an armed robbery of two PlayStation 3 video systems, authorities said.

A puddle of blood on the hardwood floor of his living room left a harsh reminder Saturday of what took place, and family and friends expressed outrage.

The deputy shot Peyton Strickland about 8:45 p.m. Friday in the Long Leaf Acres house Strickland rented with three other young men, said his roommate, Mike Rhoton, who was home at the time. He said Strickland was unarmed.

UNCW police and sheriff's deputies were at the house on 533 Long Leaf Acres Drive to arrest Strickland and serve him a search warrant, according to the university. Strickland was one of two suspects in the armed robbery of a University of North Carolina Wilmington student that occurred Nov. 17.

Investigators were reviewing the conduct of all officers and deputies involved in the incident, said New Hanover County District Attorney Ben David, who confirmed at least one sheriff's deputy was involved in the shooting.

"I am making this my top priority," David said Saturday. "No one's above the law. If there's any criminal conduct that can be established, I'm not going to hesitate to treat them as any other defendant."

Neither he nor Sheriff Sid Causey would release any information on who was present at the time of the shooting or details about why or how it happened. The State Bureau of Investigation is assisting in the investigation, they said.

"It puts a cloud over everybody," Causey said. "Nobody wants things to happen, but they do happen. When they do, we have to investigate ... and then do the approriate thing."

Search for answers

Saturday at the one-story, brown rental house, Strickland's friends and roommates stopped by to grieve the death of the tall, thin welder who friends say wanted to start his own business and was attending Cape Fear Community College.

They also searched for answers.

"I don't understand why shots were fired," Rhoton said. "I've just been trying to figure out why they shot him."

What further shocked Strickland's friends and family was that a deputy also shot and killed Strickland's German shepherd named Blaze.

The dog's blood stained the front porch, and shards of glass from the front-door windows littered the area.

A light blue sheet hung in the door frame after investigators took the door away.

The robbery

UNCW Police planned to arrest Strickland on charges of armed robbery, assault with a deadly weapon and breaking and entering.

On Friday, officers arrested another suspect, UNCW student Ryan David Mills, on the same charges. The 20-year-old lives at 4500 Crawdad Court.

Two weeks after the robbery and after reviewing surveillance video from Wal-Mart, law enforcement officers got a break in the case that started Nov. 17.

That's the Friday when UNCW student Justin Raines was among the first at the Market Street Wal-Mart to buy two coveted PlayStation 3 consoles, released that day.

When Raines came home to the on-campus Seahawk Village apartments after midnight with the games he bought for $641 apiece, two white men in a gold Pontiac pulled up to Raines' car, struck him with a six-inch blunt object and stole his purchases, leaving him with bumps and bruises, UNCW police said.

Because of safety concerns, UNCW Police Chief David Donaldson requested the help of sheriff's deputies to serve the warrants on Strickland, according to a university news release.

Three unloaded guns were in the house - a hunting rifle and two shotguns - which were in Strickland's room, Rhoton said. And when Strickland answered the door, he may have been holding a PlayStation controller in his hand, he said.

Across the country, the release of the PlayStation 3 has sparked robberies, stampedes and other violent incidents.

Before the shooting

Neighbors said they long feared that something bad would happen at 533 Long Leaf Acres Drive - a home historically known for loud parties and noise.

"We even have this address on our refrigerator because we know where the noise is coming from," said Joan Kester, adding that the complaints in the past have revolved around loud music and kids on the roof yelling.

On Friday night, Rhoton said he and Strickland played a PlayStation video game while taking a break from cleaning the house they had moved into in August. Their other two roommates weren't home.

They were playing Tiger Woods PGA Tour when they heard a knock on the door.

Strickland, who sat on a couch closest to the front door, got up to answer, Rhoton said.

As Strickland approached the door, law enforcement officials knocked it down and "there was a bunch of yelling," he said.

"Four or five shots went off and they killed him," he said. "They pinned me down to the ground and told me not to move anything."

Within seconds, Strickland lay on the floor moaning while officers held a gun to Rhoton's head as he lay on the floor.

He said they mentioned something about a search warrant, but they did not provide a copy.

"They never said why they were here, even when I left last night," said Rhoton, who attended Jordan High School with Strickland in Durham.

David assured that the District Attorney's Office would conduct a thorough investigation.

"There's nothing more important than assuring the community that officers are there to serve and protect," David said.

Welding wonders

Strickland's green, 1964 boat he rebuilt sat in the front lawn Saturday - sparking memories for his roommates and friends about how he had sunk a bunch of money into it to rebuild it.

Strickland was the youngest of three children and the only son of a well-known Raleigh-Durham-area lawyer Don Strickland.

Strickland's handiwork extended to almost anything fast - and on wheels. He loved working with metal, even making a chopper from scratch, said his friend Nick Kane.

"Not long before this ... happened, we were planning out an exhaust system for one of my four-wheelin' trucks," Rhoton said.

Strickland was like a brother to many of his friends, said friend Mike Bernard

"He was the best kid, talented, gifted, determined," he said.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
bread's done
Back
Top