Just when we thought that Singapore could actually be Pokemon GO accident-free, news just broke that two men aged 28 and 33 have been arrested on Sunday over a Pokemon GO brawl in Plaza Singapura.

According to the Police, this is the first arrest case related to the game, and they were alerted about the dispute following a phone call reporting the incident. The clash happened at the car park entrance of Plaza Singapura, and the parties involved were a car driver and pedestrian respectively.

Investigations revealed that the dispute arose after the driver sounded his car horn at the pedestrian, who was playing Pokemon GO while crossing the road. Blows were also said to have been exchanged.

The two men face a fine of $5,000 and could even be slapped with a one year jail term.

The Police have taken the incident to remind the Pokemon GO-playing public about the potential dangers that come with not paying attention to surroundings when playing the game, as well as playing the game while operating a vehicle.

The First PokeG0-Related Arrest

While the Police has issued a road safety reminder to the rampant crowds at Hougang Avenue 10, a popular hotspot for catching Pokemon, the arrest is the first time that they needed to step in.

I visited the spot last Saturday, and there was a point of time when the entire crowd (myself included) dashed across the road toward Punggol Park, where a rare Pokemon was apparently sighted.

My Pokemon hunting partner and I didn’t run across the road, but amidst the chaos, a police officer stepped in and shouted at the crowd to use the traffic light, which was just down the street.

His words mostly fell on deaf ears.

While the road wasn’t very busy, it was rather scary to see how players were dashing across roads just to get a chance at catching Pokemon.

As addictive as the game is (trust me, I’m thoroughly addicted myself), it’s really not worth getting arrested or getting into accidents for.

Feature Image Credit: vadi25.deviantart.com