Illegally parked Pokemon Go players score Ottawa $12,000 in fines

[Pokemon Go players in Ottawa were hit with almost $12,000 in parking fines after the last long weekend. / THE CANADIAN PRESS/Cole Burston]

In the quest to catch ‘em all many Ottawa players of the highly popular mobile game Pokemon Go have also managed to catch a fine from the city.

Over the August long weekend bylaw officers handed out hundreds of tickets to illegally parked cars at Ottawa’s Dick Bell Park, reports CTV Ottawa. Altogether the fines totaled nearly $12,000.

The public park is apparently a hotspot for rare Pokemon, and avid fans of the augmented reality game have been flocking there in the hundreds to capture and expand their collection of elusive pocket monsters.

With so many Pokemon Go players flocking to the area, especially during the evening hours when more rare Pokemon are said to appear, parking spots have become a very hot commodity.

This influx of people means many players either illegally park their vehicles during the day, or they choose to remain well after the park has closed for the night.

“There were vehicles everywhere. On the lawns, on the grass, the entrances, everywhere other than parking spots.” Ottawa Bylaw Enforcement Program Manager Scott Campbell told CTV.

Pokemon Go has been making headlines all over the world since first making its debut.

Not only is the game highly popular, but it has often led to more than one mishap including complaints of players trespassing on private property, not paying attention to their surroundings and even allegedly abandoning their children.