Police in Missouri arrested four people early Sunday after they allegedly robbed multiple people at gunpoint using the wildly popular "Pokemon Go" smartphone app.
Authorities arrested Shane Michael Baker, 18; Brett William Miller, 17 and Jamine James D. Warner, 18, on charges of first-degree robbery and armed criminal action. Police took a fourth suspect, who is a juvenile, to the St. Charles County Juvenile Justice Center.
O'Fallon police found the suspects after they were called to a report of an armed robbery around 2 a.m. Sunday. Officers recovered a handgun from the suspects as they attempted to get rid of it while leaving the area, police said.
"You can add a beacon to a Poke-stop (in "Pokemon Go") to lure more players," according to the O'Fallon Police Department. "Apparently, they were using the app to locate (people) standing around in the middle of a parking lot of whatever other location they were in."
The suspects snatched a wallet and a phone during Sunday's robbery, KMOV reported. The teens are also suspected in similar robberies reported in both St. Louis and St. Charles counties.
In "Pokemon Go," players use their smartphones to find "Pocket Monsters" – known more commonly as Pokemon – in the real-world using a phone's GPS information. The augmented reality game was released just this month and attracted more users than the popular Tinder dating app.
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