It’s been less than a week since the launch of Pokémon Go, the wildly popular augmented reality game that lets users find, catch, and battle Pokémon in the world around you.
But police in O’Fallon, Missouri, say four teens have already found a way to use the game for more nefarious purposes than battling imaginary creatures on your smartphone.
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At about 2 a.m. Sunday, four suspects driving a black BMW committed an armed robbery with a handgun near the intersection of Highway K and Feise Road, according to police. In a post on Facebook, police say the suspects used the Pokémon Go game to target their victims.
The robbers added a beacon to a Poké stop “to lure more players,” police said. Poké stops are real-world locations, such as a grocery store, a landmark, or a sign, where players can find items for the game, including the white-and-red balls used to capture Pokémon.
“Apparently, they [the robbers] were using the app to locate people standing around in the middle of a parking lot or whatever other location they were in,” police posted on Facebook.
St. Charles County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office charged three of the teens with first-degree robbery and armed criminal action: Shane Michael Baker, age 18, of Wentzville; Brett William Miller, age 17, of St. Peters; and Jamine James D. Warner, age 18, of O’Fallon. Police transferred a fourth suspect, who is a juvenile, to St. Charles County Juvenile Justice Center.
Bond for the adult suspects is $100,000, cash only. O’Fallon police said on Facebook the suspects “are suspected of multiple armed robberies both in St. Louis and St. Charles counties.”
Police warned Pokémon Go users, especially parents whose children use the game, to take care while playing the game.
“If you use this app (or other similar type apps) or have children that do, we ask you to please use caution when alerting strangers of your future location,” police said.
The robbery comes at a time of nationwide unrest over police shootings (such as the fatal shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson in 2014), and the police department’s Facebook posts about the Pokémon Go game attracted both “Black Lives Matter” and “Blues Lives Matter” comments from followers. Police responded to commenters to remind them that this robbery was about victimization—not race.
“Yes ALL Lives do matter,” police responded to a “Black Lives Matter” comment on the Facebook post about the armed robbery, “and the quicker everyone realizes that the better. This incident was a robbery. It had nothing to do with race and everything to do with people taking advantage of other people.”
This isn’t the first time the game has made headlines related to criminal activity. A woman in Wyoming said she found a dead body while hunting for Pokémon.
What makes the game such a viral phenomenon? From a review on USA Today:
The reason Go is awesome is because it adds augmented reality to the mix, which means you can find Pokémon anywhere in your environment. After customizing your trainer character, you see a map with arenas and Pokémon lurking nearby. When you spot one, your smartphone camera pops up, where you spot the Pokémon and “catch” them by flicking a Poké Ball toward it. Once captured, players can boost their abilities and transform into stronger creatures capable of battle in arenas. The game is already wildly popular. It’s the top free app in Apple’s App Store. And as mentioned earlier, players are finding them everywhere, based on a quick scan on Twitter.
Contact Lindsay Toler by email at [email protected] or on Twitter @StLouisLindsay. For more from St. Louis Magazine, subscribe or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
