Brent Daley, 27, and Brianne Daley, 25, of Pinal County, Arizona are facing charges of child neglect and child endangerment after leaving their two-year-old son home alone last Thursday night while they went off to play Pokemon Go.
A neighbor called police after she found the toddler outside the home, wandering around screaming and crying, barefoot and in nothing but a diaper and a T-shirt in the 96 degree Fahrenheit heat.
When sheriff’s deputies arrived, they say the child was “red-faced, sweaty and dirty,” and trying to get into the house. The door was unlocked, and when deputies entered the house, they found three dogs, but no one was home.
After a search, the officers found a phone number for the husband, Brent Daley, who when he was called to say his child had been found outside the home and appeared to have been abandoned, allegedly replied, “Whatever,” and hung up on the deputies.
Believe it or not, but deputies had to wait almost one hour before the child’s father and mother came home. According to the deputies, the couple said they had left the boy sleeping while they went out to get gas for the car.
Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu said that after the couple were placed under arrest, they admitted they had been driving around San Tan Valley, stopping at parks and other areas while playing Pokemon Go. Needless to say, but the little boy is now in the care of the Department of Child Services.
The parents were booked into the Pinal County Jail where they each face charges of child endangerment and child neglect. They will probably not be allowed to play Pokemon Go while incarcerated.
Actually, the Pokemon Go phenomenon has gotten out of hand, especially when people are running into cars and buildings while playing and driving. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has banned registered sex offenders from playing the game. He even went so far as to write a letter to the games developer, Niantic, asking for their help.
Cuomo suggested the developer cross-reference players against the state’s sex offender list. This move may not be enough. Pokemon Go “creatures” have turned up in a number of places where they are unwelcome, including the U.S. Holocaust Museum,
