Aussie cops mistake wheel lock for gun, arrest driver

All of the story’s spendid absurdity is present in the image alone. The words, if you need them, are here: Man arrested for wheel lock ‘gun’

1. [David Carroll]

   Man you guys are fast.. I suggested this story to BB just seconds ago, and bam! here it is posted! ;{)… Obviously Rob reads Digg too..

   I was absolutely flabbergasted that any traffic cop no matter how new would not know that a steering wheel lock looks like, or what a firearm should look like for that matter.

   And the reaction of the senior cop, and the official statement is a classic example of how not to do damage control….

2. [Rob Beschizza]

   I didn’t get your reco! The BB and BBG recommender scripts go to different accounts, I imagine. But yes, I do read Digg — and I don’t credit “vias” that try to obscure the original URL.

3. [Endo]

   Nice DR30 Skyline

4. [David Carroll]

   You misunderstand Rob. I get that BB and BBG suggestions are sent to different Mutants. I also get that often several people and BB editors wil send in the same item.

   I just found it freaky that I literally hit send on the suggestion and then clicked over to BBG and there it was…. Especially as it was the exact same link from the Brisbane Courier Mail.

5. [Anonymous]

   To the guy who said “Nice DR30 Skyline”

   Yea another beater Nissan ecno box that the ricers who have no taste in cars drool over.

6. [Rob Beschizza]

   Transmental osmosis!

7. [Anonymous]

   @ #5

   Did someone in a Japanese car rape your mother and pillage your land?

   Anyways, the cop sounds like an angry moron from the comments he made after figuring out it was a wheel lock. Not a good person if his response is to block out that he was wrong with berating an innocent person.

8. [pork musket]

   Just a note, wheels locks like this are stupidly easy to thwart. All it takes is a hacksaw and quick cut through the steering wheel. A pedal lock is a better idea if you’re really concerned about theft.

9. [Harrkev]

   Sounds like the Aussies have outlawed guns so much, even the cops don’t know what they look like.

10. [Crashproof]

    Perhaps they confused this wheel lock with a 16th century wheel lock.

11. [error404]

    QUEENSLAND!

    They thought it was a gun so he is lucky not to have been shot. But hell if they’d thought it was a Bong he’d be double dead.

12. [Anonymous]

    Aussie police have arrested Star Wars fans dressing up like stormtroopers with the corresponding toy blasters because some nitwits reported ‘gunmen loose in the shopping mall’.

13. [Endo]

    @ #5

    A Skyline isn’t an econo-box. For an 80′s Japanese car, it’s actually fairly large, and RWD to boot. This kid appears to have a mundane model, but the RS-X model was sexy 80′s style.

    Try not to be an ass to people you don’t know on the internet.

14. [Bek]

    Wow. I’ve been surfing the Interwebs a long time, and have never stopped reading a news article to think, “Damn, can I getcho numberrr?”

15. [Hanglyman]

    “The Club” is not a projectile weapon!

16. [dculberson]

    @Crashproof, when I see wheelock, this is what I think of:

    http://us.st12.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/yhst-86993463860622_2047_1167685

17. [Anonymous]

    Buh buh buh but a wheel-lock IS a gun!

    http://images.google.com/images?&q=wheellock+gun

    Dunno what the rest of you guys are talkin’ bout.

18. [skye]

    I was once driving down the West Side Highway in Manhattan in the late 70′s, not a pretty time for New York City, and on the side of the road was an unfortunate vehicle that had been stripped bare. The wheels, the seats, the doors were gone. What do you think the thieves used to prop up the hood of the car? The Club.