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Pokemon Go player crashes into cop car, gets caught on body camera

Crashing your car while playing Pokemon Go is bad enough, but it's even worse when you smash into a parked cop car and it's all caught on camera.

Amanda Kooser
Freelance writer Amanda C. Kooser covers gadgets and tech news with a twist for CNET. When not wallowing in weird gear and iPad apps for cats, she can be found tinkering with her 1956 DeSoto.
Amanda Kooser
2 min read
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The Baltimore Police have a don't-Pokemon-and-drive logo.

Baltimore Police

Not everyone is following Pokemon Go's advice to "be alert at all times" and "stay aware of your surroundings." A driver in Baltimore exhibited some poor decision-making skills by driving and playing Pokemon Go at the same time. He ended up crashing into a parked police

In a stroke of luck, the Baltimore Police officers involved were standing outside the car when the accident happened. One of them caught the whole incident on a body camera.

The footage is harrowing. The officers are talking as the oncoming Rav4 sideswipes the patrol vehicle. They walk down the street to catch up with the driver. The driver gets out of the car, holds out his phone to the officers and says, "That's what I get for playing this dumb a** game." Nobody was harmed during the incident, though it could easily have been much more serious.

"We would rather people certainly be playing games than committing crimes," Baltimore Police spokesman T.J. Smith said at a press conference on Tuesday. He first detailed two Pokemon Go-related robberies where players had their phones stolen. Next, he described the patrol-car crash and called for players to pay more attention to safety, whether walking or driving. "This is serious stuff. It's a game, but it's not a game when you're behind the wheel of a 2,000-pound vehicle, driving down the roadway," Smith said.

Reports of Pokemon Go-related problems are cropping up as the insanely popular game continues to attract attention to the tune of over 15 million users. The first car accident attributed to the game occurred last week. Two players in California fell from an ocean-side bluff and had to be rescued and treated at a hospital.

The police-related news around Pokemon Go isn't all about accidents and robberies. A police department in New Hampshire creatively invited all the criminals on its wanted list to pop into the booking area of the station to catch a rare Charizard Pokemon.

Humans of Pokemon Go

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