Man sentenced to seven years in prison for attacking ‘Pokemon Go’ player in Long Beach

A 57-year-old man caught a seven-year prison sentence Wednesday for assaulting a teen who was trying to catch virtual monsters.

Jayson Lingen pleaded no contest to one count of assault with a deadly weapon Wednesday, after he smashed a metal pole over the head of a teenage “Pokemon Go” player in Long Beach last year, according to a statement issued by the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.

The attack happened while the 17-year-old was playing the popular mobile phone game — which involves players roaming the real world and attempting to capture Pikachu and other little monsters from the video game series — on Aquarium Way near a shopping center in downtown Long Beach, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said Lingen yelled at the victim, then struck him in the head with a metal pole. Police arrested him a short time later.

Lingen, who was previously convicted of assault with a deadly weapon in 2013, faced up to 13 years in state prison if convicted at trial.

The victim received treatment for his injuries at the scene but was not hospitalized, according to Cynthia Arrona, a Long Beach police spokeswoman. Prosecutors did not immediately comment on a motive in the assault.

“Pokemon Go” enjoyed a strong wave of popularity when it was launched in July 2016, generating so much user traffic that its servers often crashed. As of January, the game had earned more than $1 billion in revenue, according to Niantic Inc., the San Francisco software development company behind the game.

The game’s ability to distract players, who are often glued to their phones while walking around in search of fire-breathing lizards, turtles armed with water cannons and other Darwinian nightmares, has drawn the concern of law enforcement.

Last summer, Los Angeles police said they had received reports of people trespassing on private property in search of Pokemon. A number of Southern California law enforcement agencies issued warnings that players should remain alert while playing the game, as distractions made them more likely to walk into traffic or become the victim of a crime.

Those fears became reality soon after the game’s launch. Two teens playing the game in San Francisco told police a thief snatched one of their phones last July, and another pair of players said they were carjacked at gunpoint in Antelope, Calif., a week after the game launched. In Southern California, two men suffered moderate injuries last July when they accidentally walked off a bluff in Encinitas while playing the game, police said. The same day, a man was stabbed in an Anaheim park while playing the game.

A “Pokemon Go” player was also stabbed in Oregon last summer, and criminals in Missouri targeted game players, according to media reports.

In a bizarre turn, the game has also helped police on some occasions. Two Marines were searching for Pokemon in Fullerton last year when they noticed a man bothering children at a playground and helped police detain him. Detectives later learned the man was wanted for attempted murder in Monterey County.

james.queally@latimes.com

Follow @JamesQueallyLAT for crime and police news in California.

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UPDATES:

9:45 a.m.: This story was updated with additional details on the victim’s injuries and more background on crimes related to the “Pokemon Go” mobile game.

This story was first published at 8:45 a.m.