Let's GO!

The newest fad that has taken the online world by storm seems to be Pokemon Go.  Turns out, while playing the game (or while the game is being played), a number of people are also committing (or being victims of) some serious crimes.  With this being a blog about all things law and legal things, I figured who better to detail the goings on of the criminal minded then with my blog?  Who indeed?!

As it turns out, as recently as July 25, 2016, Elvis Campos tried to rob Pokemon Go players in Las Vegas before a shootout left him and a player injured. He now faces charges of conspiracy, robbery, battery and assault with a deadly weapon.  Oooh, I don't think he planned that one very well.

In Australia, a 22-year-old woman was killed by a hit-and-run driver while playing the game. Nicholas Davison, 21, allegedly ran away from the scene but was later charged for the hit and run.  Might I suggest, if you're going to play an online game, that you pay attention to where you are walking?!  I mean, really - it's bad enough that people have their heads buried in their electronic devices while driving - now they're doing it whilst playing games walking on the sidewalk.

Next up is a teen who might want to avoid chewing bubble gum whilst playing online games. Seems Pittsburgh-area teen Autumn Deiseroth says she did everything right while playing the game near her home recently, including looking both ways before crossing streets. But, she says, she was hit by a car anyway, after the game lured her across a busy highway.  

Wait - you knew the  highway was busy and you crossed, anyway?!?  Here's a suggestion: turn off your device, put it down and walk away.  If you know the cars are there and you can get killed if you walk in front of one and you still choose to walk into a busy intersection, then maybe the problem isn't the cars - it's you.

Finally, we have Ohio players Sharon Bartholomew and Adrian Crawford who were arrested after allegedly breaking into a zoo -- after hours -- to hunt for Pokemon. "'I've got a crazy idea, let's hop the fence'," was how Bartholomew explained her mentality to news reporters after the arrest. They've reportedly plead not guilty to charges of criminal trespassing.

So, inside of three stories, we have six (6) crimes resulting from someone playing an online game.  This doesn't count the many other crimes committed by or against players of this game.  What I'm wondering is when is someone going to sue the creators of Pokemon GO for "making" their kid or husband or wife walk into a street or off a cliff or into some other dangerous area (like downtown Lebanon).

What with California being the lawsuit capital of the world, it's only a matter of time.