

Joshua Freeman, CP24.com





A Vaughan man who was trying to “catch them all” was caught himself when a police helicopter noticed his vehicle driving around Vaughan in an erratic pattern in the middle of the night.

York Regional Police said their Air2 chopper spotted a Mercedes sedan driving suspiciously in the area of Keele Street and Teston Road on Aug. 8 at around 3:20 a.m.

The helicopter followed the car and tracked its movements as it drove in a strange fashion before stopping at a parking lot and a local park.

Aerial footage released by police showed the vehicle making odd turns in the middle of the road and pulling over suddenly as the driver spotted Pokemon to catch.

Police on the ground eventually stopped the vehicle near Saint Joan of Arc Avenue and Drummond Drive and discovered that the man had been tracking virtual creatures on the Pokemon Go app.

The man was let off with a stern warning about distracted driving, police said.

While a number of social media users voiced outrage that the driver didn’t face charges, police said it would have been up to the officer on the scene to make the call and that he would not have seen the chopper video when he stopped the driver.

Police also told CP24 that an admission would not have been sufficient to lay a charge and that police would have had to see the man holding the phone in order to lay a distracted driving charge.

YRP said in a news release Monday that since the release of Pokemon Go, they have seen a spike in calls from concerned citizens who have spotted groups of people gathering and wandering around in York Region.

The Pokemon Go app superimposes a virtual world that can only be seen on one’s phone over city maps, meaning that players have to move about in the real world in order to discover all the creatures and virtual locations in the game.

There is no telling where the creatures might appear and that has led to a number of bizarre incidents worldwide where players have gone in search of virtual creatures, sometimes in places that are dangerous or inappropriate.

In their release Monday, police urged the public to take care to avoid distraction of any kind while driving or walking.

“York Regional Police would like to remind members of the public and players that any distraction while driving or walking on or near roadways can be hazardous,” police said. “Citizens are urged to be aware of their surroundings and that large groups of people gathering in areas across our region could be Pokemon GO players.”

Police also reminded players that trespassing on private property is not allowed, even if one spots a Pokemon that are out of reach.