Dallas police are dealing with a weeks-long uptick in robberies and burglaries around White Rock Lake, and many of the victims were playing Pokemon Go when the crimes happened.
Four people walking along the Lake have been robbed at gunpoint in the last two weeks, at least two of them were distracted by the Pokemon Go game, police say.
More than a dozen locked cars have been burglarized in recent days.
The Pokemon Go craze shows no signs of slowing down. Many people feel the game is only getting more popular in Dallas now for high school and college students, who are catching onto the craze before they head back to class.
And hundreds of players are flocking to White Rock Lake. There's a special reason for that-- some Pokemon only "live" near water.
On Thursday afternoon in triple-digit temperatures, NBC 5 crews spotted dozens of people on the lake trails playing the game, from elementary school kids up to SMU students, like Charles Thompson.
Thompson is a 21-year-old chemical engineering student at SMU. He only downloaded the game a few weeks ago. Now, he's obsessed. This is the first time coming to White Rock Lake since he started playing the game. He brought along his puppy, Pippin.
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"You can only catch water Pokemon by water, and White Rock Lake is the biggest water feature we have around here, and it's also a great spot to walk the dog," he said. "I'm killing two important birds with one stone."
But the growing popularity of catching water Pokemon is fast becoming a problem for the police who patrol around White Rock Lake.
They're noticing not just distracted walkers, but also a lot of smashed glass from where burglars broke through car windows.
Northeast Division Officer Billy Scott has been a Dallas police officer for more than two decades. He now works on bicycle patrol, trying to keep joggers, bikers and walkers safe on the trails.
This summer, he says he can't believe what he's seeing out there.
"Their face is in their phone. They're not paying any attention at all to what's going on around them," he said. "We had an incident the other day, someone was clearly not watching their child. He was playing his Pokemon, and not watching his child, and the kid walked off down the trail and almost got hit by a bicycle."
Criminals are taking notice, too.
There've been at least four late-night armed robberies on the jogging trails since the end of July.
According to Dallas police:
On July 22, 2016, at about 1:05 a.m., three black males robbed a victim at gunpoint as he sat in his car in the 600 block of East Lawther Drive.
On July 22, 2016, at about 1:30 a.m., two black males robbed four victims at gunpoint as they played Pokemon Go in the 2900 block of White Rock Road.
On July 26, 2016, at about 1:00 a.m., three black males robbed two individuals at gunpoint as they walked in the 4800 block of West Lawther Drive.
On August 2, 2016, at about 2:30 a.m., three black males and a black female suspect robbed two individuals at gunpoint as they played Pokemon Go in the 4700 block of West Lawther Drive.
Police say it many be the same group of gunmen robbing people's phones.
In addition, officers say there have been more than 15 car break-ins around the lake in just the last few days. Most cars are locked, but purses and backpacks are left in the front seat.
"Possibly they’re already distracted by the game and they're getting out of their vehicles in a haste," Scott said. "And they may quickly lock their doors, but they're leaving their valuables out in the open, Things like purses and laptops and work bags."
Scott said it only takes a crook 10 to 15 seconds to smash a window and steal valuables.
"A few snaps of the finger, that's it. They break your window, they grab what they want and they're gone. 10 seconds," he said.
Chandra Roberson saw it first-hand a few days ago. She spotted a stranger, crying, in a lake-side parking lot.
"She was standing, kind of upset, we asked her what was wrong, and she was like 'someone broke into my car, busted my window out.' And it was her birthday!" she said. "When we looked at the car, they literally busted out the back window, got her purse, her bags out of the car. Anything she had in the car, they took it," she said.
Police are fighting back.
They've stepped up bike patrols along the lake; and squad cars out on patrol are doing more frequent loops in the neighborhoods.
The local police station is also posting safety tips on Facebook and other social media.
Patrol officers are also being more interactive with people along the trails and in the parking lots. If they spot someone playing the game, officers remind them to be aware of their surroundings and to call 911 if they see anything suspicious.
"We've noticed over the last two weeks there are a lot more law enforcement out here," Roberson said. "So, it actually makes you feel a bit safer, especially when you leave your car 'cause this trail goes a long way away."
