Pokemon Go Players Attacked With Tire Iron Over Gym Dispute

A dispute over a Pokemon Go gym resulted in a disgruntled player attacking several others with a tire iron after he was denied control over a vacated gym.

As reported by Washington TV Station KATU (via Game Informer), two players named Andrew Otton and Grayson Hagstrom were approached by a frustrated Pokemon Go players while they were playing the mobile game themselves. While playing outdoors, the players told KATU that someone pulled into the parking lot before exiting the car and charging at the players while brandishing a tire iron.

"He comes out of nowhere, yelling, 'WHICH ONE OF YOU IS ANDY?' with a tire iron in his hand," said Otton.

Though his first name is Andrew, Otton explained that his in-game name is AndySamberg and quickly realized that he was the person the frustrated player was looking for as the tire iron-wielding player demanded to know who had just taken the gym out from under him.

"My username is AndySamberg, so he was looking for the Andy guy and I was just reviving my Pokemon when he was trying to take it out," Otton told KATU. "I took it from him, and I didn't know he just took it, and he was like, 'Hey did you just take this gym from me? That's pretty messed up man.' He was very angrily saying it."

After their discussion, the aggressor, Stephen Jolly, used the tire iron to repeatedly hit the table where the players sat. Realizing that they may be in danger, the players tackled Jolly to the ground to prevent him from using the tire iron before Jolly started punching the two.

"I got behind him and started choking him," Hagstro said. "I figured if he didn't have consciousness, he wouldn't be that tough."

Hagstrom continued to say that he was punched several times by Jolly, though the tire iron wasn't actually used to strike anyone. The players recorded Jolly's license plate and posted it in a Facebook group they were a part of and were met with replies from others who said that Jolly has done things like this before. However, the police don't have any records of similar incidents involving Jolly, according to KATU.

Jolly was taken into police custody after the incident and is currently facing charges for assault as well as malicious mischief.

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