Marines notice attempted murder suspect after Pokemon Go glitches


"Attempted murder suspect" is not a Pokémon, but it's exactly what two Marine Corps veterans found while they were playing Pokémon Go in Los Angeles on Tuesday. The iPhone game, which encourages users to wander around their neighborhoods in search of diverse Pokemon, took Javier Soch, 26, and Seth Ortega, 24, to downtown Fullerton on what they thought was a regular Pokémon hunt.
When the game glitched and froze, Soch looked up and noticed an oddly-dressed man who appeared to be harassing a mother and her three sons, The Los Angeles Times reports. The man told them he was looking for cigarettes. Soch said that after the man left, he saw him approach another mother with two sons and wipe his hand across one of the boys in a way that struck Soch as strange. Soch and Ortega then tailed the man to a park, where he had followed the mother and the boys, and they witnessed him grabbing one boy's foot and leg.
The ex-Marines intervened and escorted the man away until police arrived for questioning. The man was arrested for suspicion of child annoyance but investigators later learned that he had a warrant out for his arrest for attempted murder charges in Sonoma County, in northern California.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Soch told the Times that "the experience has not diminished his enjoyment of the Pokémon Go game." Read the full details of the encounter at The Los Angeles Times.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.
-
France political crisis: what does Bayrou's gamble mean for Macron?
The French president could see his authority damaged beyond repair should another of his governments fail
-
A private zoo run by Asia's richest family is facing criticism and investigations
Under the radar The zoo is owned by Anant Ambani, the son of Asia's richest person
-
Sudoku medium: August 28, 2025
The Week's daily medium sudoku puzzle
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclub
Speed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's ills
Speed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, Stallone
Speed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's view
Speed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
-
Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talk
Speed Read The radio host said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could help 'traditional conservatives' take back the Republican Party
-
CBS cancels Colbert's 'Late Show'
Speed Read 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is ending next year
-
Shakespeare not an absent spouse, study proposes
speed read A letter fragment suggests that the Shakespeares lived together all along, says scholar Matthew Steggle
-
New Mexico to investigate death of Gene Hackman, wife
speed read The Oscar-winning actor and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in their home with no signs of foul play