Man Robbed At South Austin Bus Stop While Playing Pokémon Go

South Austin, TX -- A man playing Pokémon Go was robbed at gunpoint on Tuesday, according to police.

The victim told police he was sitting at a bus stop near the corner of East Oltorf Street and South Pleasant Valley Road when the mugger pointed a gun at him and asked for his wallet, according to a report in the Austin American-Statesman.

Before departing, the gunman is said to have uttered: "You never saw me," according to an arrest affidavit. After the victim called 911, police arrested Corey Powell Charlton and confiscated a silver revolver in his waistband, according to the Statesman.

The victim's wallet was recovered at a nearby trash can. Charlton offered a partial defense for his actions, according to the report, police saying he only pointed the gun "to scare the victim," or words to that effect. "I needed the money," he also was more accurately saying in the affidavit.

As popular as it has become since its recent launch, the Pokémon Go app game has had unintended consequences. Apparently, gamers are directed to various locations in their communities hoping to "catch" the various characters in the game in some sort of virtual reality capture since they are not tangible, yet imaginary, characters.

But in pursuit of their "pocket monsters" haul, distracted players have been accosted by strangers intent on robbery or worse. Public safety officials -- including those at the Texas Department of Transportation -- also have had to issue warnings to alert players to be aware of their surroundings while staring at their smart phones to reach the locations of these imaginary creatures.

Local law enforcement officials -- including the Pflugerville Police Department and Austin Police Department -- have warned gamers not to intrude into private property in their pursuit of the computer characters. Police there said in a social media post that some people were caught trying to negotiate around an 8-foot, chain-link fence surrounding a water tower near police headquarters in their hunt for characters.

While officials are worried over public safety, someone's getting rich off the latest craze. Since its recent launch,Pokémon Go has an estimated 7.5 million U.S. downloads, bringing in an about $1.6 million in daily revenue for the app's creators.

Given the game's inherent risk, some media have been somewhat critical of the trend.

But its aficionados stridently defend their actions in partaking of the game. In response to a recent Patch story related to warnings by Pflugerville police about trespassing, one Pokémon Go proponent -- a gentleman who goes by the handle @ hornytrump -- wrote "condescending a** article," before directing the writer to commit an act upon himself that is physically impossible.

Other Twitter users re-tweeted @hornytrump's directive to the reporter, seemingly in endorsement of the sentiment or the inferred support of Pokémon Go. "LMAO," tweeted one Twitter user in response to the original post.

But the Pokémon Go game has yielded unsavory situations. On July 8, a teenager playing the game came upon a dead body in a river. In Missouri, four teens reportedly robbbed a dozen Pokémon Go players at gunpoint. And in Phoenix, one of the stops ended up being a halfway house for sex offenders.

>>> Image via Texas Department of Transportation