CLAYTON, Mo. – A father and son have been convicted of a 2018 attack over a game of Pokemon Go.
The attack happened on June 18, 2018, in Kirkwood Park.
According to the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, Robert and Angelo Matteuzzi were on a team opposite the victim, competing in the interactive digital game Pokemon Go. The Matteuzzis and the victim had been competing for virtual assets in the game, which led to verbal insults and, eventually, physical assault.
Angelo Matteuzzi, 33, and the victim got into a scuffle and rolled into Walker Lake. Robert Matteuzzi, 75, jumped in after them.
Robert, who testified he’d previously worked as a professional lifeguard, repeatedly held the victim underwater in an attempt to drown him, then held the victim while his son punched him. The Matteuzzis smashed the victim’s face into rocks lining the lake wall.
The victim suffered facial abrasions, a traumatic eye injury, a broken fingertip, and a detached fingernail.
“Grown men, including a man in his 70s, coming to blows over a childish game they are playing is ridiculous, but there was nothing funny about the injuries sustained by the victim, who could have drowned,” St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell said.
The jury convicted both Matteuzzis of third-degree assault. Jurors recommended a sentenced of three days in jail and a fine for Robert and only a fine for Angelo.