This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Salt Lake City's Darell Schmick was commuting on Foothill Boulevard shortly after 6 a.m. Friday when he saw motorists swerving around a man standing on the center line, staring at his cellphone.

Late Sunday night, Sugar House resident Jason Russell observed two cars with their hazard lights on, driving about 5 mph on the freeway shoulder.

West Valley City's Ethan Berg estimates he's seen 30 vehicles crawl through his neighborhood at jogging speeds, sometimes in groupings of three and four.

The cause, they all suspect, of the erratic behavior: Pokemon Go.

Released last week, the free cellphone app invites users to hunt down characters from the popular Nintendo franchise by moving around their real-world environment.

It's the most-downloaded app for both iPhone and Android, and it seems to be especially popular in Utah, which ranks second among 50 states in Google searches for "Pokemon Go" (Hawaii is first) in the past week.

Dozens of Utahns reportedly have assembled to scour Sugar House Park and the lawn of the Provo City Library. And the University of Utah's admissions office tweeted Monday that the U. is "a great place to catch Pokemon."

But the app may present some challenges for law enforcement, not least of which are the players who believe driving is a faster way to catch 'em all. A tweet from the Utah Highway Safety Office implied that those using this approach to find a coveted Charizard might instead meet a grisly end.

Police in Missouri said four teens placed a virtual "beacon" at a location to lure in players and rob them.

Salt Lake City police Detective Greg Wilking said Monday that his department hasn't had many incidents relating to Pokemon Go, but potential issues include Pokemon hunters trying to gain access to private property in pursuit of a character.

A Rose Park woman called to report strangers in her yard, he said, and Unified Police Lt. Lex Bell said a graveyard shift dispatcher received more than a half-dozen "suspicious circumstance" calls in which somebody was said to be lurking near a residence.

After police arrived, they radioed back, "Cancel, they're just doing Pokemon."

Provo's Sydney Howard said she's noticed about 10 people driving while trying to catch Pokemon — achieved by swiping a finger to fling a creature-capturing Pokeball. Others leave the flinging to passengers, she said, but they're still cruising 15 mph in a 50 mph zone.

"I'm for the game, but driving around here is already scary enough," she said.

Berg said he's among those drivers who've pulled over to nab a Pokemon. He's read that the game's creators made the characters less likely to spawn near highways and roads, "but I have not seen any proof of that yet."

Drivers who explore the shoulder for Pokemon will be issued a citation for a nonemergency stop, said Utah Highway Patrol Sgt. Todd Royce.

"It's not a safe scenario," he warned.

mpiper@sltrib.com

Twitter: @matthew_piper