Two Los Angeles police officers were fired for chasing Pokémon rather than fleeing robbers, court documents show.
The pair were parked nearby when a radio call came in for officers to respond to a shop robbery.
But a review of their in-car camera footage showed they had been playing Pokémon Go and chose to pursue a nearby Snorlax – a relatively rare catch – instead of providing back-up.
The pair denied playing the game but were sacked after an investigation.
Virtual creatures
Details of the case emerged when the most recent documents about their appeal – which was dismissed – were spotted by Axios.
After ignoring a radio call for back-up, “for approximately the next 20 minutes,
captured [the] petitioners discussing Pokémon as they drove to different locations where the virtual creatures apparently appeared on their mobile phones”, the documents say.
Louis Lozano and Eric Mitchell had been on patrol when Macy’s department store was robbed, on 15 April 2017.
Another officer, Capt Davenport, who also heard the call, could see the shop – and another police car parked in a nearby alley, the court documents show.
Those nearby officers did not respond to the call, so Capt Davenport did so himself – and saw the other police car reverse down the alley and leave the area.
