75-year-old Pokemon Go fan faces 3 days in jail after fist-fighting another player over a local gym

A pair of Pokemon Go players – a 75-year-old man and his adult son – have been convicted for dunking another player in a lake and punching them repeatedly in a fight apparently started over ownership of a local gym. 

In 2018, Robert Matteuzzi and his son Angelo were on a Pokemon Go team trying to conquer a gym in Kirkwood Park, located in a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri. According to the victim, who goes by the in-game name 'Sammy the Bull,' an argument over the gym led to Angelo throwing punches. The ensuing brawl saw both the victim and the younger Matteuzzi fall into the five-foot-deep water of a nearby lake.

According to the St Louis Post-Dispatch, video provided by prosecutors in the case shows that Robert Matteuzzi joined the fight soon after. Both Matteuzzis punched the victim and held him in the water. The victim was said to have suffered facial abrasions, a traumatic eye injury, a broken fingertip, and a detached fingernail. Bystanders broke up the fight.

With the defense arguing that the Matteuzzis did not initiate the fight, Robert said that he "didn’t want to be in the water." After being reminded that he did, in fact, enter the water to join the fight, he said "when you’re 71 and you get punched in the head, you don’t know what you’re doing."

While the incident occurred in 2018, the jury recommended sentence was just announced on October 26, 2022. They recommended three days in jail for Robert and a fine for both Matteuzzis.

Please don't get into any fights over the Pokemon Go Halloween event this year.