Two men from Pueblo, Colorado were arrested on Saturday after pawning a large cache of video games to buy some heroin, according to the The Chieftain. The men were jailed after one of them admitted to stealing games from a local K-Mart so they could buy drugs. Nineteen-year-old Shane Michael Santarelli was arrested after police stopped the car he was riding in, according to a report by police officer Donnie Lambert.
Police were looking for the vehicle after an employee of the Kmart store at 3415 N. Elizabeth St. called them about a man who was putting DS video games into a cooler. The man then left the story without paying for the games, meeting another man, 25-year-old Robert Gene Poirier, at his car. The employee followed the men to several pawnshops in the area.
The employee told police he saw the men drive to nearby EZ Pawn, and then to Top Dollar Pawn. The manager of Top Dollar Pawn told police that the man matching the description of Santarelli came into the store at about 2:30 p.m. and pawned 31 video games for $93.
Police later stopped Santarelli and Poirier in a black Ford Mustang, near Santarelli's home on Regency Boulevard. Poirier told police that Santarelli asked him to take him to Kmart so he could steal some video games. After pawning the games, the not-so-dynamic-duo split the money.
Santarelli and Poirier were arrested and charged for suspicion of providing false information to a pawnbroker and theft. Santarelli was being held in Pueblo County jail in lieu of $35,000 bail. Poirier remained in jail in lieu of $10,000 bail.
Source: The Pueblo Cheftain
Comments
Re: Stupid Crime: Games for Heroin
Dismissing poor judgement resulting from drug addiction as mere stupidity trivializes the tragedy of the disease.
While obviously I don't condone stealing games and selling them for heroin (and honest to Christ I shouldn't even have to put that disclaimer in), heroin destroys minds and lives.