Student seeking Pokémon mistaken for bank robber, surrounded by police

A University of Iowa football player found something unexpected in a public park recently while looking for Pokémon: several armed police officers pointing guns in his face.

Faith Ekakitie was rummaging for imaginary characters Wednesday when he was surrounded by Iowa City Police, who were pursuing a bank robber, and searched at gunpoint.

Writing about the ordeal on Facebook, Ekakitie said it was "the first time that I've ever truly feared for my life, and I have the media to thank for that."

"Today I was surrounded and searched by approximately five Iowa City Police Officers," he wrote. "My pockets were checked, my backpack was opened up and searched carefully, and I was asked to lift up my shirt while they searched my waistband."

"Not once did they identify themselves to me as Iowa City Police officers, but with four gun barrels staring me in the face, I wouldn’t dare question the authority of the men and woman in front of me."

The man the police were looking for was a "large black male, wearing all black, with something on top of his head" he wrote. He was dressed in black and had goggles on his head. As they approached him, they asked him to raise his hands but he didn't hear as he was listening to music, he explained.

"The suspect had reached into his pockets, for something which was his phone, but for all the cops could have known, he was reaching for a gun," Ekakitie wrote, referring to himself as the suspect.

"The suspect could very well become another statistic on this day. I am not one to usually rant on Facebook or anywhere else, but with all of the crazy things that have been happening in our world these past couple of weeks it is hard to stay silent."

A police spokesman chalked up the episode to "unfortunate timing," the Associated Press reports.

Ekakitie ended his post thanking the officers and reminding his readers: "Not all police officers are out to get you, but at the same time, not all people who fit a criminal profile are criminals."

"I would urge us all to at least to attempt to unlearn some of the prejudices that we have learned about each other and now plague our minds and our society."