Mario pranksters won't be charged

by Ross Miller { Apr 7th 2006 at 6:25PM }

It seems some sanity still exists in this world. Charges will not be filed against the six girls who strewn Super Mario question mark blocks all around their tiny Ohio town on April Fool's day. According to Portage County Prosecutor Victor V. Vigluicci, "I do not believe that they had any bad or malicious intentions ... [the girls] were not thinking about the consequences of their actions in this day and age."

Although "this day and age" sounds a bit sensationalist, since a town of 12,000 is extremely likely not to be a target for any attack spearheaded by ~~fascists~~ ~~nazis~~ ~~communists~~ ~~aliens~~ terrorists, we are very pleased that the prosecutor (or one of his superiors/constituents) came to his senses and decided to let these girls off the hook.

[Thanks, DraXXXen]

[Update: fixed a typo -- and no, pirates are not a problem. Yar!]

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

RGB @ Apr 7th 2006 6:33PM

"who strewn"

im pretty sure thats not right

Probot @ Apr 7th 2006 6:47PM

You've got it all wrong. They aren't worried about terrorists. They obviously thought the ?-shaped boxes were the work of the Riddler.

obo @ Apr 7th 2006 6:48PM

"[the girls] were not thinking about the consequences of their actions in this day and age."

Paging Dr. Breen!

guano @ Apr 7th 2006 7:02PM

That fact that they still have to write letters of apology to the emergency people who responded to the paranoid calls is still pretty absurd. I really doubt these girls could have known what kind of crazy reaction their game would have caused.

Cowlix @ Apr 7th 2006 7:31PM

They still never told us what was actually inside the boxes...

Those greedy Mushroom-grabbing thieves...probably have fireball power by now..

Homer @ Apr 7th 2006 8:34PM

Well written, Ross.

Netnavi @ Apr 7th 2006 8:51PM

please! while I'm glad that they didn't get charged, I'm pretty sure had they been boys it would've been a different story. I wonder how "easy" the authorities would've been on them?

Hart704 @ Apr 7th 2006 9:06PM

Why anyone would think of making this into a criminal case is beyond me.

Exbzurg @ Apr 7th 2006 9:07PM

you forgot to have pirates written and then crossed out in your report. Unless you are a pirate trying to cover up real pirate acts....
The jig is up!
I set you up the bomb so now is the time to come clean about it!!!!
Come on theres no point hiding it further joystiq.

Franky J @ Apr 7th 2006 9:11PM

Aww... come on they are just decorating for the biggest sensation on net "the Reolution"

EatingPie @ Apr 8th 2006 12:54AM

The prosecutor said "The girls were imitating an art project which they found on the Internet."

I haven't heard this before, but that was my first reaction to the photos when the story broke on April 1st: art.

I find it quite sad that something like this is seen as a danger rather than a beautiful work of art (yes beautiful).

-Pie

anonymous coward @ Apr 8th 2006 3:17AM

It's still not clear to me what crime they could have been charged with other than maybe littering. Anyone care to enlighten me?

Forcing them to write apologies to compensate for small-town america's paranoia strikes me as unjust.

Leto @ Apr 8th 2006 4:01AM

Ohio is perhaps the most depressive states in the US. People there go crazy because they socialize more with cows than with people.

soop @ Apr 8th 2006 4:13AM

Hurrah!

Resident Gamer @ Apr 8th 2006 10:07AM

It's was just an art project that went really wrong. I looked up the game and it seems harmless enough. But the people in the town really took it a step to far. But I guess rather save them sorry in these times.

ck @ Apr 8th 2006 10:21AM

"Ohio is perhaps the most depressive states in the US. People there go crazy because they socialize more with cows than with people."

I'm sorry but that is just plain ignorant. No wonder you have -1 star.

I live in Ohio. I'm not depressed. Nor are most of the people around me. Do you think because there's lots of farmland around that we don't know the difference between a toothbrush and a stick? I don't think I've ever socialized with a cow, much less touched one. Yes they're here, but they're also in California, New York. Stop stereotyping people from the midwest, it's stupid and it makes you look like some snob from the coast.

psp.boy @ Apr 8th 2006 11:00AM

They must have really scared some old people who thought that Video games are taking over the world.

Corey @ Apr 8th 2006 11:15AM

No, I also live in Ohio. I don't know a single college graduate who has stayed within the state. Not that they don't want to, it's just that there are no jobs. It is certainly a depressed state, one of the worst in the country, but that doesn't mean the people are depressed or bored, just that the kids can't stay around. There are no jobs. By the end of the decade, the pendulum will begin to swing back again, and states like North Carolina and Tennessee will be moving towards depression while Ohio will be the state full of oppurtunities.

Also, my friend Alex just made a short film about playing music for cows, so yeah, we do socialize with a lot of cows.

Ryan Cable @ Apr 8th 2006 2:11PM

Now I want to see a public appology written by whoever went so far as to order the bomb squad out to check it, those girls have no reason to appologize to anyone w/ the exception of littering at best.

CV_Otaku @ Apr 8th 2006 5:12PM

I think you guys are missing some of the points here. It wasn't just that these packages were found littered around the town and a bunch of people panicked. Look at where they were left.

The Courthouse, A Church, The Library, The High School...these are all believable sites for a bomb.

Now remember, it's not just terrorists that plant bombs. Every town, no matter how big or small, has some crazy guy that's pissed at something and wants to blow it up.

Think about it...The Unabomber lived in a town of a couple thousand?

To be quite honest, if they would have just hung them on light posts, and such, around town, the backlash would probably have been less severe. But you can't put boxes like this on Government Buildings, Churches and Schools and expect people to take it as a joke. That's just stupid.

EatingPie @ Apr 9th 2006 12:09AM

"Stop stereotyping people from the midwest, it's stupid and it makes you look like some snob from the coast."

Just a bit of advice... If you don't want people to stereotype, try not to do it back. :)

"I think you guys are missing some of the points here."

A good point CV. Their choice of buildings was rather unfortunate -- I actually considered this in terms of the recent rash of church arsons in the midwest, but shrugged it off.

I wish someone from the town -- or the girls themselves -- could actually comment. It'd be nice to see the real reasons the townspeople reacted as they did. I doubt we're getting the full story.

-Pie