Getting busted in GTA IV
The term 'Busted' refers to the player being arrested by the
Busted In GTA 3.
police or any other type of law enforcement in a Grand Theft Auto game as a result of having a wanted level. As wanted levels progress higher, the law enforcement is more likely to attempt to waste the player rather than arrest them, although if given the chance, they will still attempt to pull the player from of their vehicle.
Many factors can contribute to this:
- Being pulled from a vehicle, or having the player's vehicle door successfully opened by a member of law enforcement.
- Being on the ground when a member of law enforcement is within a certain radius. This tends to happen if the player engages in melee combat with a member of law enforcement, and is knocked to the ground.
- Being knocked to the ground while attempting to steal a law enforcement vehicle, with an agent inside.
Effects
As a result of getting busted, the player has their body armor and all of their weapons confiscated, and will fail any mission that was in progress at the time of arrest. In Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories, the player also loses all of their garage-stored vehicles, and in Chinatown Wars, any drugs currently held by the player are confiscated.
Exceptions
Weapons
In Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, if Carl is dating Barbara Schternvart, the player's weapons will not be lost.
In Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories, the player's confiscated weapons can be returned for $2000. They will be processed at the closest precinct, and a small amount of money will also be taken by the police as a bribe.
Other
In Grand Theft Auto IV, the player is permitted to resist arrest by breaking away during the arrest. This can only be done if being held at gunpoint by an officer. Doing so will earn the player a two-star wanted level, and cause the arresting officer (and any others in the vicinity) to engage the player with their firearm.
Trivia
- In Grand Theft Auto: London 1969, the term is known as "You're Nicked" which is often used as a stereotype of what British police say when they arrest people.
- In the PlayStation Portable and Nintendo DS versions of Chinatown Wars, cheating stars away with a cop on foot will result in the cop opening a door on a random vehicle and walking away.
- In the Grand Theft Auto III beta, when you were busted it showed red and yellow letters reading busted. This was changed to a simple orange color in the final version.
- When an NPC gets arrested in Grand Theft Auto IV, driving a police vehicle will occasionally have the officer and criminal enter your vehicle and after a few seconds the player recieves a wanted level and the officer and criminal will exit the vehicle when it stops. If the player leaves the vehicle near the criminal and officer, they will enter the vehicle and begin to drive away. Stealing the vehicle back will not earn the player a wanted level.
- In GTA IV, when an NPC is being arrested and no police car pulls over to pick up the officer and criminal, the criminal is more than likely to run away and/or attack the officer. This can be prevented with the use of cheats, the FIB Buffalo spawn cheat. If it is spawned close enough to the officer, they will direct the criminal into the back seat and drive away with them. The officer may also utter a comment such as "A good samaritan? Rare sight in this city!", or "Is this some sort of a trick, asshole?.. Thanks, I guess." They may also say "Thanks man, we need more people like you."
- In GTA IV, there will be no message reading "Busted" on the screen. Instead the screen will turn grey and, after a few seconds, you will be returned to the nearest police station.
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