Cops: Driver aiding wife with 'Pokémon' hits patrol car
Rehoboth Beach police said a man trying to expand his Pokémon collection crashed his car into a marked police cruiser.
Mark Oldenburg, 28, of Dover, received citations for inattentive driving and improper turn on Wednesday, police said in a statement.
Police said Oldenburg’s wife told him to pull his Hyundai Sonata into a median parking spot in the second block of Rehoboth Avenue while she played "Pokémon Go," the popular smartphone game, at about 12:05 a.m. Wednesday.
Authorities said Oldenburg failed to check his surroundings and crashed into the officer’s vehicle.
No one was hurt in the collision, but both vehicles were damaged, police said.
Police spokesman Lt. Jaime Riddle said that although "Pokémon Go" is extremely popular, and Rehoboth has become a Pokémon hot-spot, drivers should not play while driving.
"This time of year we have a lot of pedestrian traffic and a lot of those pedestrians are even children," Riddle said. "We are so fearful that it could change a child's life or seriously harm a child or even an adult."
Oldenburg did not have a listed telephone number.
Similar incidents have happened around the country since the release of the immensely popular "Pokémon Go" on July 6. The game, based on the Pokémon franchise of the 1990s, uses a smartphone's camera to let users search for digital monsters while moving through real-world locations.
The game is credited with getting users to explore their neighborhoods and stay active while collecting the creatures.
About 90 percent of adults who have downloaded the smartphone game are between 18 and 34 years old, according to mobile advertising company StartApp. Nintendo added $18 billion to its market cap after releasing the game.
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On Monday, a driver crashed into a parked police car in Baltimore and later told police he had been playing the game.
The Colorado Department of Transportation recently started displaying the messages "Beware the Pokemon" and "don't game and drive" on digital display boards.
Riddle said police are concerned the next crash involving the game and driving could be more serious.
"What we want people to know is that we understand it's a popular game out here, and we're all for it," Riddle said. "But if people continue to do it and drive, next time it might not be property damage. We have a lot of children and a lot of pedestrians in Rehoboth Beach, and we want people to be safe."
The story contains information from the Associated Press.
Contact TyLisa C. Johnson at tjohnson@delawareonline.com or (302) 324-2832. Follow her on Twitter @tylisajohnson