Suspected Drug Dealer Alfred Hightower was arrested after years of stealthily avoiding the law. According to The Kokomo Perspective however, his World of Warcraft habit is what put him into police custody.
Hightower had arrest warrants dating back to 2007 in Howard Indiana for dealing drugs. However, authorities were unable to locate him, although some evidence suggested he may have been in Canada.
Things turned around for police when they discovered his he played WoW through a background check.
The Perspective interview Howard County deputy Matt Roberson and he commented on the issue: “We received information that this guy was a regular player of an online game, which was referred to as ‘some warlock and witches’ game,” he told The Perspective. “None of that information was sound enough to pursue on its own, but putting everything we had together gave me enough evidence to send a subpoena to Blizzard Entertainment. I knew exactly what he was playing — World of Warcraft. I used to play it. It’s one of the largest online games in the world.”
Blizzard willingly gave Hightower’s information to the police including his IP address, screen name, billing address and preferred game server. After using Google Earth to track him down Canadian authorities apprehended Hightower in Ottowa, Ontario.
“You hear stories about you can’t get someone through the Internet,” said Roberson. “Guess what??You can. I just did. Here you are, playing World of Warcraft, and you never know who you’re playing with.”