WATCH: Pokémon Go player mugged while live streaming in NY
A hooked player of the smash-hit game Pokémon Go was mugged by a stranger while he was filming himself at the Central Park in New York.
Rickey Yaneza, a tech blogger and enthusiast with the screen name RickeyBot, streamed the appalling incident on camera in the wee hours of Sunday, Sept. 18.
As seen in the footage, Yaneza, 43, was streaming with his followers using multiple devices in video-streaming site Twitch, narrating his quest to catch several pocket monsters. At the time, he was stalking his way toward Snorlax in its Pokémon hotspot at the Grand Army Plaza.
Unfortunately, an unidentified man rushed into the scene and sucker punched Yaneza in the jaw.
Scan on jaw was negative, so just swollen for a few days. Bump on head was from hitting the pavement and blood was from scratch on elbow.
— rickeybot (@rickeybot) September 19, 2016
My @twitch account busy got suspended, literally insult to injury #twitch
— rickeybot (@rickeybot) September 19, 2016
I got mugged playing Pokémon GO in Central Park. Still talking to police and will go to hospital soon. My jaw is a mess. Thanks all.
— rickeybot (@rickeybot) September 19, 2016
“Take it off,” the culprit yelled at the tech blogger.
“No, no, please, please,” Yaneza pleaded before his gadgets were stripped off. His followers panicked in disbelief and Yaneza was taken to a nearby hospital. The incident was a hot topic on YouTube and social networking site Reddit for over a week.
Several groups called on Pokémon Go creator Niantic labs to bolster security warnings after a number of players were robbed and assaulted during their virtual hunts. Gianna Francesca Catolico
RELATED STORIES:
Pokemon Go player shot to death at San Francisco park
Driver playing Pokemon Go fatally hits woman
