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5 ways Pokemon Go has been dangerous

Posted at 6:13 PM, Jul 13, 2016
and last updated 2016-07-13 19:33:34-04

By now, you have heard about the smart phone application that has been sweeping the nation. While "Pokemon Go" has given millions of Americans fun and enjoyment in recent weeks, playing the game has been costly, and in some instances, dangerous. 

Man robbed while playing game

An Alabama man was robbed early Wednesday morning by four men while playing "Pokemon Go" in Auburn, Alabama, Al.com reports. 

The man was playing the game at 3 a.m. when he was directed to a closed business. That's when four men robbed him at gunpoint. All four men have been arrested, the paper reports. 

Teen struck by car

A Pennsylvania teenager was struck by a car at an intersection Tuesday while playing the popular game, her mom told WPXI-TV. 

Autumn Diesroth, 15, remained in the hospital Wednesday with a collarbone injury, a foot injury and several cuts and bruises, the station reported. 

“The Pokemon game took her across a major highway at 5 o’clock in the evening, which is rush hour,” Diesroth's mother Tracy Nolan said “Parents, don't let your kids play this game because you don't want to go through what I went through last night. I really thought I was losing my daughter,“ she said

Man drives into tree playing game

A central New York man told police that he was playing "Pokemon Go" when his car swerved off the road and into a tree Tuesday night, the Syracuse Post-Standard reported. 

The 28-year-old escaped the crash with minor injuries. 

The Auburn, N.Y. police chief told the Post-Standard that traffic tickets against the man are pending. 

"Pokemon Go" players carjacked in California

Two people were robbed in Northern California Sunday night after the two friends were searching for Pokemon in a park, KCRA-TV said. 

The incident took place around midnight, after David Wallace got off of his job in Antelope, Calif. 

"A guy pulled up with a gun and held a gun up to me,” Wallace told KCRA. “He held it right by his waist and said, 'If you don't want to get hurt, give me your phones.’"

No one was hurt during the carjacking. 

Kids go missing in the middle of the night

A Whanganui, New Zealand woman found three children searching for Pokemon around 2:30 a.m. Wednesday, the Whanganui Chronicle reported. 

"At first I was angry, and then when I actually saw them I thought 'Oh my god, they're babies,'" the woman identified as Amanda told the paper. "What the hell are you doing out at this time in the morning?"

"They're walking around Whanganui all hours of the night - parents don't know they're out there doing it," she added. "They're going to walk onto the wrong property one day and someone's going to sic their dog on them and they're going to get chewed up."

Justin Boggs is a writer for the E.W. Scripps National Desk. Follow him on Twitter @jjboggs or on Facebook.