FULLERTON, Calif., July 13 (UPI) — A pair of Marine Corps veterans in Southern California helped apprehend a murder suspect while playing the smartphone game Pokemon Go.
Roommates Seth Ortega, 24, and Javier Soch, 26, traveled to a park in downtown Fullerton at about 10:30 a.m. while playing the GPS-based mobile game. Around this time Soch’s game froze and he noticed strange man in the area.
They then walked toward the man who claimed to be looking for shelter or cigarettes.
“I said, ‘I don’t have smokes but there’s a police station nearby. If you go, they can point you to resources,'” Ortega said.
After speaking with the man Ortega and Soch said they saw him approach a mother and her three children across the street as the children quickly ran away and the mother called 911.
They told KABC that they watched the man as he approached another woman and her two children who were also playing Pokemon Go and witnessed him touching one of the children.
“We see the gentleman go approach them again, at this point, me and my roommate start walking across the street and the gentleman actually walks up and touches one of the children, one of the boys, his toe, and starts walking his way up to the knee,” Ortega said.
Ortega sprinted across the street to separate the man from the family while Soch stayed with the women and children as they waited for the police to arrive.
Police arrested the man for child annoyance and later discovered that he had an outstanding warrant for murder in Sonoma County.
Soch said he was thankful that his military training taught him to be observant and encouraged Pokemon Go players to follow the advice of the game’s loading screen and remain aware of their surroundings while playing the game.
“If I hadn’t looked over to my left and seen this guy who looks out of place, I could have missed it,” he said. “The best thing I can say: Remind yourself that you are not in the phone playing the game. Look around and be more aware.”
