Man in viral Google Maps image chronicling street fight speaks up

An Australian worker has explained the real story behind a viral Google Maps image that appears to have gotten him into a fight outside his workshop.

Kenny Riley went viral after embracing the image taken with a Google Street View car outside his Old Caperum location in southern Australia.

But not everything was as it seemed.

“Me and my buddy, the other co-worker, were sitting in our cafeteria eating lunch when we peeked out the window and saw the Google Maps car drive by,” Riley said 10 News, First Adelaide.

“We said, ‘Let’s get in the driveway and have some fun, yeah.’

He said a fake fight was the first prank that came to mind for the Larrikin pairs.

“The first thing that came to our minds was we have a little fight, you know, a little laugh … that was a last minute thing,” he said.

Taking to Facebook, where millions have seen a screenshot of the altercation, Riley wrote, “It’s funny how big something small can get.”

The staged melee is still visible in the Street View feature of Google Maps.

A picture from further up the street even shows the couple peeking around the corner as they prepare for their hilarious prank.

Powered by cars driving through streets around the globe with 360-degree cameras, Google’s Street View feature has captured many interesting, weird, or spooky moments.

Australian examples include car crashes, real-life fights and even a penny-farthing rider pulling a penguin in a trailer.

The feature, which allows users to virtually stroll streets around the world, will celebrate its 15th anniversary in 2022.

And for those who have privacy concerns, the tech giant says, “Google takes a number of steps to protect the privacy of individuals when publishing Street View imagery on Google Maps.”

“We have developed state-of-the-art face and license plate blurring technology designed to blur identifiable faces and license plates in Street View images provided by Google.”

The company says it will consider additional censorship of cars, companies, or people upon request.