School shooting "hero" confesses to Xbox theft
by Kyle Orland 
{ Mar 4th 2008 at 1:55PM }
Stories about thieves stealing games and systems are a dime a dozen, but those thefts usually don't involve a culprit that was praised as a hero by President Bush. They do occasionally, though, as is proven by a recent Philadelphia Inquirer article about Plymouth-Whitemarsh High School student Lewis Bennett III.Bennett earned fame and a meeting with the president for thwarting a planned Columbine-style attack by classmate Dillon Cossey back in October. But even heroes have their flaws, and last week, Bennett confessed to authorities that he and two friends had repeatedly broken in to Cossey's house last month to steal a variety of items, including an Xbox 360 that Bennett later sold to a classmate for $20.
Bennett's attorney said the media attention may have driven his client to the criminal act."How does a child, a young adult, deal with that situation, where all these cameras are put in his face and he's required to respond and he meets the president?" The answer to that rhetorical question, apparently, is 'by stealing an Xbox 360.'
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Curtis the Claw Game Master V2 @ Mar 4th 2008 2:01PM
$20 for a 360? Whoever he sold that to is lucky!
A-Troll-Named-Slickback (Yes the A Troll Named part, and yes every time!) @ Mar 4th 2008 2:09PM
Um, no.
rv @ Mar 4th 2008 2:14PM
Um, yeah.
Corbo @ Mar 4th 2008 2:38PM
Well, I bet he was feeling pretty lucky right up until he realised that his $20 console was going to be seized by the police as stolen goods and evidence before being returned to the rightful owner.
Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Mar 4th 2008 3:01PM
Isn't the "rightful owner" a near psychopath committed and/or in jail currently?
HalaMadrid!!! @ Mar 4th 2008 3:04PM
my friend sold his 360core with call of duty 4 for $50 bucks in the flea market to some old guy
Corbo @ Mar 4th 2008 3:25PM
@Crono
Well, returned to someone who's looking after the rightful owner's stuff. Either way, the guy basically paid $20 to have a 360 for a month then get involved in a police investigation.
Player1 @ Mar 4th 2008 3:49PM
It doesn't say it was a 360, it just says an xbox console. Probably was an original xbox.
Arttemis @ Mar 4th 2008 4:33PM
@Player1: WTF, Did you even read the article?
"Bennett confessed to authorities that he and two friends had repeatedly broken in to Cossey's house last month to steal a variety of items, including an Xbox 360 that Bennett later sold to a classmate for $20."
Arttemis @ Mar 4th 2008 4:38PM
disregard: I assume you were referring to the Philadelphia Daily News article's quote.
Player1 @ Mar 4th 2008 5:08PM
LOL. Yes, I read the original article. I don't know where Joystiq got the 360 part.
Player1 @ Mar 4th 2008 5:13PM
Dang Arttemis, you're getting voted up for that too. Perhaps I was the only one who did read the orginal article.
nerrrrrrd @ Mar 4th 2008 2:02PM
Does he have a PS3 for sale? I already got a 360.
Hamza @ Mar 4th 2008 2:03PM
So, what is this gist of this joystiq article? That we no longer refer to him as a "hero" (after potentially saving a classroom full of kids from death) because he was involved in petty larseny?
Sure, I can do that. Happy joystiq??????
FidliousWong (Oatmeal Defense Force) @ Mar 4th 2008 2:09PM
Considering the value of a 360 and how few additional items it would take to push the monetary value, I think we're looking at Grand Theft. Possibly even breaking and entering.
Or maybe, just maybe, it's this kind of behavior that was creating that shooter?
FidliousWong (Oatmeal Defense Force) @ Mar 4th 2008 2:15PM
Wow, just read the article....
So he stole the 360, jewelry, and cash, gaining entry through a rear window which was unlocked. Then he told his buddies and they made a second trip...
Looks like these people are fucked up all around...
upz @ Mar 4th 2008 2:30PM
Doesn't sound so much like a fall from grace to me as the full reality of the situation finally rearing itself. My bet would be that our hero had a history of bullying the shooter.
Also, the article only mentions that it was an XBox, so probably not a 360 and hence the $20 price tag.
quickshade @ Mar 4th 2008 2:05PM
looks like Bennett should have let off some steam before he stole those items.
jojo biscuits @ Mar 4th 2008 2:54PM
"looks like Bennett should have let off some steam before he stole those items."
Haha. I wasn't expecting a quality Commando quote in this thread.
My favorite thing about a stolen xbox? The price.
Silly Sauce @ Mar 4th 2008 2:09PM
DIE BENNETT!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(throws metal pipe into his chest)
Shiro @ Mar 4th 2008 2:34PM
All right, cool down there, turbo.
Imagine for a moment that you are a kid his age (It'll be easier in a year or two when you're actually there). You stopped this kid who was planning to kill a bunch of classmates and then himself. Probably twenty or more kids owe you their lives. Now, is it impossible to reason that the murderer-to-be shouldn't be relieved of some of his belongings as well? Especially since he obviously wasn't after profit.
I don't condone theft.
I'm not excusing THIS theft.
But I do have the ability to keep a level head and look underneath the exterior events (and by extension, Orland's clever and subtle jabs at... well, everyone).
tl;dr - Don't be an internet tough guy.
Neon Jebus @ Mar 4th 2008 2:38PM
Shiro, I know what you are getting at but...
If I take your side of this story, tell me the logic of stealing the product only to sell it for next to nothing to one of the very kids you probably saved?
I would think the hero/local celebrity status would get you at least another $30 over your asking price.
mike @ Mar 4th 2008 3:02PM
his name was matrix, not turbo.
Phinehas @ Mar 4th 2008 4:22PM
@Shiro
Um, actually, since you totally missed the Commando reference, I'm not sure you should be teasing Silly about his age...you know, glass houses and all that.
Neon Jebus @ Mar 4th 2008 2:13PM
I blame the President. Jack Thompson needs to step in. Clearly being in close proximity to the President drives young people (and older people) to a life of crime.
So I wonder what drove the kid to want to shoot up the school in the first place? Was it video games or being bullied by the type of person that would later break into your home?
ronald.raygun @ Mar 4th 2008 2:54PM
hey it happened to rumsfeld and rove
Scott @ Mar 4th 2008 2:15PM
"Bennett's attorney said the media attention may have driven his client to the criminal act."How does a child, a young adult, deal with that situation, where all these cameras are put in his face and he's required to respond and he meets the president?"
Oh, I don't know. Maybe not becoming one of society's degenerates would be a start.
engine @ Mar 4th 2008 2:15PM
I always kinda sympathize with the school shooting kids, I mean obviously he was treated like shit and it has to be insult to injury that one of the very people who was terrorizing him is now hailed as a Hero by the press.
I think people always forget that there's a very specific reason these kids want to kill other members of their student body; if these kids were just decent human beings to each other a lot of these incidents could be avoided.
FidliousWong (Oatmeal Defense Force) @ Mar 4th 2008 2:24PM
It should be noted that not EVERY school shooter is Michael Carneal. Sometimes they are just batshit insane and refuse treatment like Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois University's shooters.
TehSilentOne @ Mar 4th 2008 2:18PM
That kid is a royal prick.
mietha CAG @ Mar 4th 2008 2:19PM
Wait, so he turns the guy in and them robs him? What an ass... Yeah, because positive attention turns everyone into criminals... And I say he's a liar as well. Who the fuck would sell a 360, even a stolen one, for $20? I call horseshit. Grand larceny is based on the value of the properity, not what you sell it for. Maybe he's not smart enough to know that.
Yourself @ Mar 4th 2008 2:51PM
Sigh I wish Joystiq hadn't been so misleading. The news article makes no mention of the number "360," so the price tag would lead one to believe it was an original Xbox. So cool down for a second.
Judd @ Mar 4th 2008 2:23PM
The real crime here is that someone was able to get a 360 for 5% of its price, and that someone wasn't me.
sparki @ Mar 4th 2008 2:49PM
Was the robbery before or after he turned him in?? Did he find an "I'm going Columbine" letter when robbing him??.. and seriously why attempt to steal it when you could just offer $25?
Yourself @ Mar 4th 2008 2:52PM
Please read the post or the article or anything at all beyond the title before making such inane and embarrassing posts.
Eric @ Mar 4th 2008 2:53PM
Wait, wait, wait. This fuckwad stops a guy from shooting up his school, and he's a hero. THAT part makes sense. The part where he takes a person who has CLEARLY DEMONSTRATED himself to be unstable (possibly deadly) and PROVOKES HIM AGAIN is kind of fucking ridiculous, stupid, and puts him and his classmates at further risk.
mike @ Mar 4th 2008 3:05PM
yeah. Hes just about undone any good he had done. The kid was clearly emotionaly messed up to begin with because of all the bullying that was done to him at school, probably from the same retard he was the hero that turned him in, and then stole his xbox. Lets stop playing minority report here. The kid with all the weapons is still innocent. hasent done a thing, while this "hero" has bullied kids, commited breaking and entering and theft.
LordMinogue @ Mar 4th 2008 3:45PM
A setup, mayhap?
shMerker @ Mar 4th 2008 4:13PM
The kid who "didn't do anything" was at least charged with criminal attempt and possession of a criminal instrument, and apparently also asked another student to help him. This isn't quite the same as having done nothing. Also, if I'm understanding things right the kid who reported him was the one who was approached for help. Now I'm no expert, but I'm thinking that if a kid is planning to shoot up his students as revenge for bullying, the kid he asks to help him is not going to be one of those bullies.
shMerker @ Mar 4th 2008 3:58PM
This really seems like non-news to me. It's just not that hard to imagine that the same person who reported to police that someone was planning to kill him would then steal from the foiled shooter's home while he was away. In fact it seems like a pretty logical progression from fear to revenge, with a little bit of self-justifying "he deserves it" to grease the skids. I suppose having your ego inflated by the positive press and a handshake from the president might help, but it would hardly be necessary.
Phinehas @ Mar 4th 2008 4:37PM
According to the lawyer's logic, someone should keep close tabs on the following people:
Caitlin Day,
Nedra Keenan,
Sandra Paquin,
James Descoteau,
Felicia Lewis,
Wayne Miller,
Courtney Salls,
Nikki Salls,
Amber Redmond,
Britney Hayman,
Allen Thibodeau,
Tiffany Hayman,
Terra Hadcock,
Dakota Salls,
Tashia Salls,
Shayanne Becker,
Bianca Pelligrino,
Chris Hicks,
Thomas Gokey,
Casey Hadcock,
Timmy Hopper
They are obviously delinquents with hidden criminal agendas since they met with President Bush as children or young adults. There were even camera's involved. Perhaps they've not been caught pilfering last-generation video game systems yet, but surely it is only a matter of time.
oreun @ Mar 5th 2008 12:02AM
He... he didn't even ever say that. Learn what "rhetorical" means, dude.
Phinehas @ Mar 7th 2008 4:21PM
First of all, I never claimed that the lawyer said anything, so I'm not sure what you mean by "he didn't even ever say that."
As to rhetorical questions, do you really think I don't know what they are? (
Sam @ Mar 4th 2008 5:45PM
This reminds me of how Rachel's family (from Columbine) use the fact that she died to guilt trip schools into paying them to talk to the school...about how she died. I heard they're making a blockbuster movie about her death, it really sad, I hope she's throwing stones at them.
creid @ Mar 4th 2008 10:52PM
Here's the way I'm reading this: Bennett bullies Cossey enough to make him want to bring a gun to school, then Bennett turns in Cossey, then Bennet robs Cossey. He deserves a kick in the nuts from the president, not a pat on the back.
brokenscope @ Mar 5th 2008 6:20PM
You know the definition of hero is really being watered down.
He simply did the intelligent thing in the situation. He told the people who needed to know his suspicions. They acted accordingly. At least that how it appears on the surface. I don't know everything thats happened since so i won't make any judgments.
Of course that didn't stop him from getting revenge on someone who actually never did anything to him to our knowledge. Blaming media coverage for his actions is an idiotic move on both his parents and his lawyers part.
its obvious he and the people he hangs around with aren't the little angels everyone thinks they are. Apparently they are capable of disregarding the rights of others as well.
Gus @ Mar 9th 2008 9:31PM
The pic you have up: "Fall from Grace" is a student film turned indy documentary about Fred Phelps and his anti-homosexual protests in Topeka, KS. The pic and movie has nothing to do with the story you refer to.
I know you picked it for convenience or whatever, but it should probably be changed to something more relevant. I don’t think Ryan Jones (the film maker) would want his final project for his film class to relate to this story in anyway, even on a blog about games.
Here's Fred Phelps' wiki page if you want to know who he is:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_phelps