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The Super Mario Bandit Strikes Again

Posted by Cole Stryker

 

It's a pretty slow news day, so I fired up Google News and searched for "video games" by date. Usually, I'm awash with old curmudgeons bemoaning kids today with their "electronic gizmos", alarmist reporters talking with their local hospital director about "Wii-itis", and star athletes dishing on how they like to unwind with a game of Madden. Fascinating, right?

But today, I stumbled on something that gave me a few giggles:

A Clarkston man arrested in a bank robbery Saturday is now charged in two other Macomb County bank robberies and has been identified by authorities as the notorious "Super Mario" bandit from the 1990s.

Joseph Brodak, 63, spent several years in prison for robbing 10 metro Detroit banks of about $40,000, authorities said. He was dubbed "Super Mario" after he was arrested in 1994 sporting a large moustache, a purple cap and a plaid jacket like that worn by the cartoon plumber from a series of video games still popular today.

Um, excuuuse me? I do believe that mario wears a red hat and  his jacket ain't plaid, people. Maybe they meant Wario. At least he's a known robber. Or Waluigi, at least he wears purple. But what really got me was the following gem, from the local DA: 

"He looked like the game piece," Ken Chadwell, the U.S. district attorney who prosecuted Brodak in the '90s.

The game piece. Ha. Grownups don't understand video games!

Related Links: 

The Year in Press Releases
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Comments

Roto13 said:

Mario doesn't wear a jacket at all. :(

January 28, 2009 2:48 PM

LBD "Nytetrayn" said:

And this is why you keep your mouth shut regarding things which you don't have a clue about.

January 29, 2009 1:48 AM

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John Constantine, our superhero, was raised by birds and then attended Penn State University. He is currently working on a novel about a fictional city that exists only in his mind. John has an astonishingly extensive knowledge of Scientology. Ultimately he would like to learn how to effectively use his brain. He continues to keep Wu-Tang's secret to himself.

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Cole Stryker is an American freelance writer living in York, England, where he resides with his archeologist wife. He writes for a travel company by day and argues about pop culture on the internet by night. Find him writing regularly here and here.

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