POKEMON GO: News Bits
July 21, 2016
Within days of its release, Pokémon Go has become the most popular mobile game in history, according to Surveymonkey. However, catching Pokémon hasn’t been all fun and games as recent escapades of some Pokémon trainers have shown.
(Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
Pokémon Go is being blamed for the injuries of a teenager who tried to cross a busy intersection. Fifteen-year-old Autumn Deiseroth was injured playing the game when crossing a highway to reach a Pokéstop. Although Deiseroth only suffered minor injuries, both her and her mother blame the game for forcing the teen to visit places she wouldn’t normally, leading to her accident.
(San Diego, CA and Riverton, Wyoming)
The frenzied search for Pokémon has led to two cases of players finding human corpses instead. A group of teens looking for Pokémon in a memorial park in San Diego, California stumbled upon a corpse in the bushes. In Riverton, Wyoming, a 19-year old player found a dead body face down in the Big Wind River while looking for water Pokémon. Investigators have been searching both areas, but foul play is not suspected in either area.
(O’Fallon, Missouri)
Pokémon Go has also been used by criminals to take advantage of players. Dropping a lure module (an item that attracts Pokémon) is a sure way to bring players to a certain area. Some teens in Missouri used this feature by luring players to their location, and then robbing them. A group of four teenagers were arrested after allegedly robbing several people using this strategy. The robbers were armed with a black handgun after being confronted and arrested by police.
(Sunnyside, Queens)
For Evan Schniber, Pokémon Go was a contributing factor in the demise of his relationship. Schniber was dumped by his girlfriend after she saw that he had caught a Pokémon at his ex-girlfriend’s house in Brooklyn, due to the app recording where and when an individual catches a Pokémon. Schniber claims that the app ruined his love life, and that his mistake was playing the game at his ex’s house.
