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Police: Man Recovering After Crashing Into Tree While Playing Pokemon Go

AUBURN, N.Y. (CBSNewYork/AP)-- A man is recovering from minor injuries he suffered when he crashed his brother's car into a tree in central New York while playing Pokémon Go on his smartphone.

Police in Auburn in the Finger Lakes region tell The Citizen that 28-year-old Steven Cary of Portland, Oregon, crashed late Tuesday night while playing the wildly popular digital-monster cellphone game.

Authorities say Cary suffered a broken ankle and cuts to both legs. Police Chief Shawn Butler says his injuries could've been worse because the impact of the crash nearly sent the engine into the passenger compartment.

Cary was ticketed for using a mobile device while driving and failing to remain in his lane.

Butler says the car, which was totaled, belonged to Cary's brother. The police chief says Cary was visiting his mother at the time of the crash.

NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton recently spoke out against the wildly popular app.

"That craze is one of the stupidest ones I've seen," Bratton said. "I haven't the faintest interest in that stupid craze, don't understand it."

To play the augmented reality game, users roam through the physical world searching for virtual Pokémon creatures to catch.

"I think too many people have been watching the zombie shows on TV and basically our millennials seem to be fascinated with making themselves walking zombies," Bratton said. "It's like looking for a tooth fairy."

Bratton said players are also putting themselves at great risk.

Stories are unraveling across the world involving use of the app including, but not limited to:

  • A Michigan man with a warrant for his arrest has been taken into custody after showing up at a Detroit-area police station while playing the game.
  • Connecticut police say two young men looking for Pokemon in the prayer garden of a local Roman Catholic church instead came across a naked woman who was vandalizing the property.
  • Police say a man's body was recovered from a brook behind the New Hampshire Holocaust Memorial after it was spotted by someone playing the game.
  • German police say they've arrested an 18-year-old man who was wanted for evading a prison sentence after he ventured out to play the game.

(TM and © Copyright 2016 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2016 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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