Two former Marines were in the middle of playing the new smartphone app game called “Pokemon Go” in Orange County, California when they inadvertently ended up helping the police catch a man suspected of attempted murder.
Javier Soch and Seth Ortega were playing the game near a museum when it suddenly froze. Soch and Ortega then looked up and saw a man harassing a woman and her kids, The Los Angeles reports.
When they confronted him, the man told them he was searching for shelter or cigarettes. That’s when Soch and Ortega told him the local police station could probably help him out.
But instead of heading the station, the man start harassing another woman and her children and touched one of the boys across the chest, further alerting the former Marines.
The man suddenly made a move and grabbed one of the boy’s feet before trying to scoot his hand up the boy’s leg. Ortega ran over and moved the man away from the woman and her children. Soch stayed with the mothers while police were on their way.
The man turned out to be 39-year-old Jacob Kells. Police arrested him for suspicion of child annoyance. Later, it turned out that Kells was also wanted for attempted murder and assaulting a peace officer.
Kells is now sitting in an Orange County jail cell.
Soch and Ortega pointed to their training in the military as the reason they were able to intervene.
“If I hadn’t looked over to my left and seen this guy who looks out of place, I could have missed it,” Soch 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.”
The game Pokemon Go has seized the time and attention of the nation in less than a week. It hasn’t only resulted in positive benefits, however. Obsessed users playing the game with their heads down while driving and walking have suffered injuries from crashes. A 15-year-old girl in Pennsylvania was struck by a car Tuesday while walking across an intersection playing the game.
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