US Marines Playing Pokemon Go Help Nab Attempted Murder Suspect

Like so many other people, two United States Marines were walking around this week playing Pokemon Go in search of creatures. But their story had a different, more dramatic ending than catching a rare Pokemon. Instead, they helped catch a attempted murder suspect.

Marines Seth Ortega and Javier Soch strolled though a park in downtown Fullerton, California on Tuesday looking for Pokemon, ABC 7 reports (via Kotaku). When Soch's game froze, he looked up and spotted a man approaching a woman and her three children (who were also playing Pokemon Go).

The woman and her children ran away, Ortega and Soch said. She called 911, and the Marines stayed nearby to keep an eye on the mysterious man. The man approached the children again, and started to touch one of the boys. At this point, Ortega and Soch, as well as another person in the area, ran over to put a stop to it.

The children returned to their mother, as Ortega and Soch stayed with the man until officers arrived. He was later arrested for child annoyance, while it was also discovered that he had an outstanding warrant for attempted murder in Sonoma, California. His name has not been released.

Soch said this incident was a wake-up call of sorts.

"A lot of people are just drawn into their phones and not really paying attention to what's going on," he said. [An event like this] kind of gives you a hit of reality, like you really got to pay attention to what's going on around you."

Pokemon Go launched last week and has since become a global phenomenon. On the business side, its release has added $9 billion to Nintendo's market cap.

Recently, it was reported that in wake of the game's huge success, Hollywood studios are scrambling to sign a deal for the Pokemon movie rights.

For more on Pokemon Go, check out GameSpot's review.