Have you seen that stupid Toyota commercial where people destroy their cars in various ways so they can buy a new Toyota?
Well:
Man accused of pushing car off mountain
A man pushed his Ford Mustang down a mountain as part of a scheme to claim it was stolen, authorities said.
Richard Way Jr., 28, pushed the car down an embankment along Wopsy Mountain in Blair County last year, then reported it had been stolen from the parking lot of a hot dog restaurant, the Pennsylvania attorney general’s office said.
Way, of Claysburg, was arraigned last week on charges of filing false police reports, theft and insurance fraud.
A cousin, Travis Knox, told police he saw Way remove stereo equipment from the Mustang and was asked to help push the car off a cliff, according to the arrest affidavit. Knox said he refused to help, and told investigators that Way confessed the crime to him a few days later.
The commercial annoys me every time I see it, because I’m a goody two shoes and can’t stand it when our entertainment media encourages us to commit crimes (an ad for a film where two bank employees hatch a plan to rob the place played before Enchanted! WTF?), and because this is yet another example of the “I deserve it, and I have no responsibilities” mindset.
I wondered the first time I saw it if it would happen in real life. This isn’t exactly the same, but…
(Apologies to Dariush for stealing his headline meme ;>)