Police in Derbyshire, UK, are going viral after making a TikTok video mocking a criminal who led them on a car chase, saying the suspect will now miss out on GTA 6’s highly-anticipated launch as a consequence of their actions.
The short video, uploaded to TikTok on November 3, shows law enforcement officers from the Derbyshire county constabulary chasing a black van through residential streets as the song ‘Flower in a Hurricane’ from the GTA 6 soundtrack plays.
The video leaned into the Grand Theft Auto series aesthetic; whoever edited the clip put GTA 6’s unmistakable UI over top, giving the criminal a three-star rating, and even included a minimap in the corner of the screen that followed his bungled escape. Eventually, police were able to cut him off and make an arrest.
According to the post’s caption, the incident took place in the town of Ripley. The suspect, 28-year-old Jack Vickrage, has been sentenced to 14 months in prison for “admitting dangerous driving, driving while disqualified, drug-driving, and cannabis possession.”
“Could’ve just waited a few more weeks for GTA 6 to drop… Now Jack’s in prison for release day,” the constabulary captioned its post. “Thirteen years is a long time to wait for the game, but nothing excuses driving like this in real life. Cutting corners and hurtling through residential streets with pedestrians and other vehicles in the middle of the day… save that stuff for the streets of Vice City.”
Commenters were thoroughly impressed by the short video, urging the department to “give the admin early access [to GTA 6]” and saying the “admin needs a raise.”
“15 more days to go, he can watch us play from prison,” another joked.
GTA 6 launches on November 19. Just this morning, Rockstar confirmed the game’s install size and global release times, saying the preload file can measure up to 212 GB depending on your device. “Make sure you’ve got ample space to begin pre-loading as soon as possible,” the developer said.
It’s shaping up to be one of the biggest pop culture events in history, with Rockstar going all-out on marketing; they partnered with Miami, Florida for a Vice City-themed takeover and collaborated with the Miami Heat to give them special, GTA 6-themed jerseys. Xbox even debuted an alligator-shaped Xbox Series X today in keeping with the game’s Florida setting, which players can win if they enter a sweepstakes. (And no, it’s not a real alligator.)
There’s just two more weeks until GTA 6 is finally in players’ hands; in the meantime, oodles of fans have made plans to take off work to play it, while others are planning to call out sick on the day. Others are so amped about it that they even said they would abandon their pets for a month if they had the chance to play it early in a recent survey.
Virginia (she/her) is IGN’s News Editor. With ten years of experience reporting on games and entertainment, she’s got a storied background in the fighting game community, influencer news, and viral online trends. Find her on Twitter at @TheeMissGlaze.