Drug Dealers Caught on Google Street View

Nov. 11, 2010— -- Google Street View sightings tend to be more peculiar than practical -- in the past year alone, the globe encompassing image service has turned up photos of a so-called two-headed man, a "dead" girl and a snake out for a walk with its owner. But the latest additions to the canon of Street View spectacles are so valuable they might be used in a court of law.

A trio of alleged heroin dealers were arrested by law enforcement after they were caught in the act by Google Street View cameras in Brooklyn, N.Y.

According to the New York Post, several images captured by Google's cameras showed the three men standing in front of an East Williamsburg bodega and allegedly pushing their product to local hipsters and other customers.

Law enforcement said the investigation began in July when residents complained about the illicit curbside activity and set up an undercover sting operation. They dealers were arrested Wednesday.

Although Google Street View has come under fire for privacy reasons recently, it has also generated plenty of images that entertain and amuse.

Take a look at a few other examples below.

Did Google Street View Photograph a Dead Girl?

It was just a child's innocent prank. But when people in Worcester, England, saw what looked like a dead body in a Google image of their street, they sounded the alarm.

According to the U.K.'s Telegraph this August, neighbors were so distressed by a picture showing a brown-haired girl lying face down on the sidewalk that they reached out to the tech giant, worried that a crime had been committed.

But it turned out that the dead-looking girl was mischievous 9-year-old Azura Beebeejaun, playing a prank at the exact moment that a Google Street View car happened by, shooting pictures.

''I didn't know anything about the Google Street View car. I fell over while I was playing with my friend and thought it would be funny to play dead," Azura, now 10, told the Telegraph. ''I heard a car go past me but had no idea I was having my picture taken. I was just playing a joke on my friend."

A spokesman for Google said, ''The imagery in Street View represents a snapshot in time of Britain's streets and is no different to what anyone might expect to see for themselves around the country. … Sometimes that means our cars inadvertently capture odd or inappropriate moments as they drive past."

'Two-Headed' Man Spotted in a Picture From the U.K.

In another recent Google Street View spectacle, a three-limbed, three-armed man was spotted by the Google Sightseeing blog, in a picture from Hawes, England.

The most likely theory on the origin of the two-headed man is that Google accidentally tacked on an extra arm, leg and head when it combined two images of the same street corner.

Man Walking His Snake

Leon Kidd, 25, was photographed carrying his 10-foot boa Nibblez along a road in Norwich last summer, the U.K.'s Telegraph reported last May. Norwich is one of 25 U.K. cities included in Google Street View, which lets users see cities and neighborhoods virtually from their computers.

Kidd, who owns five snakes, told the Telegraph that walking his boa is regular activity.

"I take her out nearly every day in summer in Earlham Park," he said. "A lot of people are surprised, others are curious and ask if they can touch her. She loves being taken out, especially going in the grass."

"I didn't even notice I was being photographed by the Google car," he said. "Then about three weeks ago my cousin phoned me and said I was in the newspaper."

Heart-Shaped Lakes and 10-Foot Snakes

Arizona's Oprah Maze

She's one of the biggest stars on the planet, so it only makes sense that she has a special place in Google Earth, too. Arizona's Schnepf Farms carves a maze with the outline of a famous person into its 10-acre cornfield each year around Halloween. Larry King, Jay Leno and Steve Nash are among the celebrities who have been recognized in this way. In 2004, Oprah Winfrey was the farm's celebrity of choice.

Heart-Shaped Lake

Google's Frank Taylor and Google Sightseeing's James Turnbull said there's a lot of love on Google Earth. They've compiled whole collections of heart-shaped things seen from space, as well as a handful of visible marriage proposals. This heart-shaped lake in Ohio is just one of several like it found by members of the Google Earth community.

Firefox Crop Circles

In a bid to generate some PR buzz for the Web browser in 2006, some Firefox fans made a gigantic Firefox logo in a crop field. According to the Google Earth blog, the project involved significant planning, building of the crop stompers, GPS devices and a helicopter (to capture the aerial photo). This crop circle is one of a large collection of crop circles visible through Google Earth.

Jesus in the Sand Dunes

In 2005, the Google Earth blogs were chattering about reports of the face of Jesus in Peruvian sand dunes. Some say they don't see the resemblance to Jesus Christ, but others still wonder about the origins of the hazy image.

Googling for Gold

Los Angeles musician Nathan Smith believes a 19th century Spanish galleon laden with gold and silver is buried on a ranch in south Texas. He is convinced he found its location using Google Earth.

The only problem now? If the ship does exist, it is buried on private property.

The family that owns the land doesn't want anyone digging up their property for a ship no one has proved even exists.

Citing Maritime Law, on Land

"It has been my experience, more times than not, a legend like this, there is some basis of truth," Smith said. "Because it has been around long enough that they have named it Barkentine Creek. That alone makes me think that there was, or is, something buried out there."

A barkentine is a kind of sailing ship.

Smith has brought the landowners to federal court in a case titled Smith vs. Abandoned Ship, and has argued he has the right under maritime law to dig up a ranch he doesn't own looking for a ship no one is sure exists.

Lost City of Atlantis?

Using the latest version of Google Earth, which allows users to peer under the sea, a British engineer believed he spotted the lost city of Atlantis off the coast of Africa, about 600 miles from the Canary Islands.

The image on Google Earth appears to show a grid-like pattern, which some have said resembles a planned city.

The ancient city was first mentioned by the Greek philosopher Plato, and legend holds it sank into the sea. The exact location of the city, and whether such a place even existed, has obsessed treasure hunters for centuries.

Google, however, had a much less exciting explanation for the undersea pattern.

"It's true that many amazing discoveries have been made in Google Earth, including a pristine forest in Mozambique that is home to previously unknown species and the remains of an ancient Roman villa," a statement from Google read. "In this case, however, what users are seeing is an artifact of the data collection process.

"Bathymetric [or sea-floor terrain] data is often collected from boats using sonar to take measurements of the sea floor," the statement added. "The lines reflect the path of the boat as it gathers the data."

Pool Dipping

In the summer, Google Earth helped British teenagers start a new craze: pool dipping. The cunning teens used Google Earth to find homes with pools and then organized pool parties using social networking sites. This led a police representative to tell the U.K. Telegraph, "We are advising owners of swimming pools to be on their guard and extra vigilant. We would also warn prospective swimmers that using someone else's pool is trespassing and therefore illegal."