Activision Blizzard‘s cash cow IP rarely gets into the news for such a reason: it helped the police of the United Kingdom to help some put back behind the bars…

Clint Butler was serving a 17-year sentence in Spring Hill Prison in Buckinghamshire for crimes such as robbery and firearms offences. However, he broke free on November 28. He found shelter at a friend, but he made a bad decision: the pair left their home to pick up a copy of Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War from a retail store.

The police noticed the pair on the Birmingham streets that Butler isn’t in jail, but initially, they didn’t know it was him. Instead, they asked him why they are on the streets, as it was happening during a lockdown. Butler responded by saying „I’ve come to get the new Call of Duty because I can’t sit around in lockdown.” Then, one of the officers started to explain that the pair pulled a 180° move when they noticed them, and it caught their attention. But Butler (perhaps by reflex?) kicked the officer and tried to escape. It got recorded on video, thanks to the body cameras.

Butler kicked the officer when they tried to get their papers. He then fell, and the police were helped by the security guards, which led to him being back in jail, but his sentence was extended by 13 months for the escape, and another half a year was added to it for assaulting the police, leading to a total of 18.5 years in prison. „Quite why he decided to risk being returned to prison by making the idiotic decision to come into town during lockdown with a friend to buy a video game will remain a bit of a mystery,” Birmingham Police Superintendent Nick Rowe said.

It was simply a dumb move. They could have bought the game from the PlayStation Store, Microsoft Store, or Battle.net without leaving their safe place. But it’s too late now…

Source: PCGamer