Shortly before 10pm last night near the Perfume Point car park, Ahuriri Napier, a group of Pokémon Hunters were successful in catching more than a flaming demon Shetland called Ponyta or an ostrich-like Doduo .
A group of young people were out hunting Pokemon near the East Pier hotel when they heard a car alarm go off and then seconds later a man ran past them wearing a horror mask.
They followed the masked man in their van and pulled up next to him as he was getting into another car.
The man, still wearing his mask, came up to the game hunters and it was at that point they realised he had been interfering with the car where the alarm had gone off. The Pokemon hunters then grabbed the masked man and held him while another phoned police. In this case, they didn’t use Pokeballs to catch him, they just held him till Police arrived.
“This is a great catch, says Senior Sergeant David Sutherland, of the Eastern DCC. If it wasn’t for this group of young people, then we would never have caught this guy. Well done to them, they were brave enough to hold him till our staff arrived and we thank them for a job well done. ”
However Police would also like to remind people, that their own safety is paramount, and at the first instance they are best to call Police when intervening in matters. Capturing little Pokemon monsters isn’t just good for the players because in this case it’s good for the Police too, but we don’t want any good Samaritans getting hurt,” said Mr Sutherland.
Police arrived shortly after and arrested a 28-year-old man on theft-ex car charges and is due to appear in the Napier District Court on the 7th of September. ENDS
For the uninitiated, Pokémon Go invites players to hunt for digital Pokémon on their smartphones.
Issed by the Police Media Centre