Teen spots alleged robbers on Google Street View

The world weaves odd, strangely patterned webs.

Last September, a 14-year-old boy told police in Groningen, Holland, that he had been knocked off his bike and robbed of some money and his cell phone.

What evidence did he have of his alleged assailants? Very little.

Six months later, the Associated Press reports, he was pootling around on Google Street View when he saw an image of himself--and of two males behind him, who, he seemed to remember, were just in the place where he was allegedly robbed.

Here's the evidence, blurred.

(Credit: Google Maps)

So he called the police again.

Paul Heidanus, a spokesman for the Groningen police, told the AP that the police had to make a formal request to Google in order to obtain the unblurred photo from Street View.

"The photo could provide an important contribution to solving a crime," he said.

The police subsequently arrested twin brothers, one of whom was allegedly recognized by Groningen's robbery squad.

But here's what I would love to know: what was the 14-year-old alleged victim doing on Google Street View six months after the alleged event? Why pick that moment to return to the scene of the alleged crime?

And, secondly, what was the kind and sensitive Street View driver doing at the time of the alleged incident? Did the driver really just miss it?

[jaximflash]

I hate articles like this that leave out material referenced in the article. Where's the blurred photo or a link to the referenced spot on Google Street View. Reporters have to learn to report all the W's (Who/what/where/etc) instead of quoting AP or a company press release and adding little. They teach the W's in elementary school but maybe in J-school they teach that that isn't necessary.

[jaximflash]

thanks for updating the article with the Google Street View photo, Chris! :-)

[sartor1]

Awesome! I'd love to visit Holland!

[JimmyJoeJohnson]

No doubt the "kind and sensitive" Street View driver was paying attention to his job . Driving.

and this jewel: ..."what was the 14-year-old alleged victim doing on Google Street View six months after the alleged event?"

You're correct...he must have been up to something.

[calculatorwatch]

haha my thoughts exactly, I like how the angle here isn't that Google street view was quite possibly being useful and helping solve a crime but that some sneaky little 14 year is probably making crap up, that sounds like an onion news headline

[SRS1982]

Wow.
Chris Matyszczyk... You are just one flat out complete moron.

Award winning creative director? Laughable.

Your award winning creativity is evident from you trying to allude that the victim .. wait sorry.. "alleged victim" is up to something since he dared use Google Street View. It is all a huge conspiracy. He waited 6 months to the day and went directly to the exact spot he was "allegedly" victimized.

What was the driver doing? I would guess DRIVING. How many crimes have you walked or driven past? You "kind and sensitive" person. From what you have written here I'm surprised you wouldn't go spit on the victim after they were mugged. Because that is what you have done here.

This article is trash. I want the 30 seconds I spent reading it back. CNET drops another notch lower. Good job!

cnet's articles just get worse and worse.

just because he's 14 he can't cleverly solve a crime?
christ.

[lisasimone]

"You're correct...he must have been up to something."

I agree there isn't enough info here to get a good idea what really happened, but did anyone consider that this kid may actually *live* around that area since he was on his bike, and maybe he often looks at Google street view out of interest or evey boredom? Or maybe he even hypothesized that he might see the robbers again if they happened to belong to the neighborhood as well?

Don't let the media's bias influence the facts of the story - check out the source(s) - more than one if you can. And yes, this article did reference the AP article and the blurred picture.

[bigpicture]

If it's supposed to be news then it should be facts and not opinions. The facts should be checked and double checked and no biases or opinions injected. And they wonder why newspapers are going out of business, could it be the quality of the product?

[alanfreytag]

this article is just as fake as Chris Matyszczyk last name. Someone please fire this guy and shut this BS site down!

[DutchHiker]

Why he waited six months? Perhaps because Google released the first Dutch Street View in March 2009, 6 months after the robbery...

[ChrisMatyszczyk]

@DutchHiker,

Thank you. I was genuinely curious and have no interest in besmirching this 14-year-old. I am sad that anyone would think otherwise.

Chris

[viper396]

Chris, as a reporter it should have been your responsibility to check the facts and find answers to your questions. Instead you alluded to some sort of conspiracy by framing him as an "alleged victim" and questioning his motives for using even Google Maps. You went from reporting the news to actually trying to influence it.

People are clearly getting disgusted with this tabloid style trash reporting by news outlets.

[ewelch]

Great, kick the kid after he's robbed, and make accusations out of whole cloth. This author shows no class and certainly doesn't deserve to call himself a journalist. Not even John Dvorak would make such a ludicrous accusation of a victim of a crime.

[mmullins208]

This writeup is poorly written.

The Google Map picture captured the two robbers as they were about to rob.

The picture is not of 6 months after the event.

[itanium4life]

Nothing particularly new to add here but it is worth reiterating, what a poorly written article. The topic is interesting but then to imply the 14year old victim is somehow guilty makes it a piece of trash article. I am sure he didn't intentionally mean to write the words such that it implied this but if he can't figure out how to piece together a basic article, why is he allowed to post on a large website and get prominent mention - > This is strike #1. You get two more crappy articles and then Cnet should pull the plug.

[julscit]

But here's what I would love to know: what was the alleged "journalist" doing writing an article questioning the motives of a crime victim one day after the perpetrator confession to the crime was reported? Why pick that moment to display complete journalistic ineptness by not checking REUTERS?

[Alphaman63]

If you continue south down Merwedestraat (the direction the Google SUV is travelling, as evidenced by the reflections in windows) and look back, you'll see that the alleged thugs follow the biker for quite a ways, and the driver is well out of range from seeing anything happening.

The photo posted is simply a good closeup of the alleged thugs. There are plenty more as you travel down the street and through time.

[ogman]

Seriously, what the hell is wrong with CNET these days. Hire some writers already!

[marswat]

"I would love to know what the 14 year old alleged victim was doing on goggle 6 months later"???? Daaa, maybe he was doing what the rest of the planet is doing, looking at the planet, maps etc. What a ******* question! And 6 months later, so what if it was 6 minutes or 6 weeks or 6 damn years. The accusations of this author make absolutley no sense, don't leave your day job pal!