I need the communities help dealing with an aggressive PokemonGo Player
I recently moved my family into a new apartment that is next door to a municipal park (10min walk - 2min drive away). Over the past year we have gone to this park almost daily to get the kids outside and moving. We are the only regulars at this park and in that time our children have become obsessed with Pokémon and PokemonGo. Best of all they were willing going outside in their free time and are having fun playing with the other kids in the park!
These last 6 months we have been dealing with an adult that has become increasingly more aggressive towards my family, our kids, and their friends that are playing this PokemonGo game. It has escalated to the point that this man has made threats of harming my family, taken photos of our cars/license plates, following us back to our building from the park and even followed us to a neighboring townships park 20min away when we took the police's advice to "go somewhere else for a while". Driving around the neighboring town we noticed that this guy is in almost every Pokémon gym in the area.
Two months ago my son had to call the police to the park when this guy drove his car into the fence around the playground from pulling into the park too fast and not being able to stop. My children were the only ones in the park at the time and battled one of the 3 gyms that this guy was holding for over 16hours, he arrived at the park in under 2min. When the police arrived they got this man to leave but our children were/are still shaken from the encounter. They each have mace in their bags now and are not allowed at the park alone anymore.
Over the last months we have been talking to the state police and a lawyer about pressing stalking or harassment charges but they discouraged it saying that we don't have proof of the threats and that the videos are not enough because its a public park. The police insisted that this guy was just here to play Pokémon and they would just talk to this guy and tell him to stop harassing people. This has worked to an extent, he no longer sits in his car the whole time we are at the park and is no longer waiting nearby for when we typically get there after school. But now has begun "GPS Spoofing" his player into the park and taking the gyms back as soon as he gets beaten.
Despite multiple in-game reports and police intervention, this man is unrelenting and is dead set on controlling PokemonGO in the area. The kids are much less enthusiastic about going outside to the park and Pokemon in general.
Any advice on how to handle this person/situation is appreciated
Comments
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I think this matter is a little more serious than the Pokémon forums are equipped to handle.
If you have already contacted law enforcement and done what you can to protect your family's safety, this fundamentally boils down to an adult bullying children within the rules of a video game. Which, while mean spirited, is not illegal.
If this individual cannot be reasoned with and you cannot find somewhere else to play, I would suggest finding other activities for your children to engage in outside. Make Pokémon Go just one of many attractions of the park. That way, if one guy tries to spoil the fun, there are still other things to look forward to.
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This is not something you ask a forum for kids about. This is something actually serious. I can't help but I wish you all luck.
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You did the right thing by contacting law enforcement, harassing children over a game is never acceptable. Other than that though, I'm afraid I can't help you, maybe you could get your kids into other Pokemon games until this guy is dealt with.
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You need to keep involving the police. Every incident generated a report. Eventually they will deal with it when there is a pattern of harassment. The next step is a restraining order. Again, the police will need to provide you with copies of these reports.
Please stay safe. That is the most important thing.
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