Armed Robbers Steal $100,000 of Pokémon Card Merchandise, Hold Customers at Gunpoint

A Pokémon paper store successful Manhatten has go the latest people for thieves looking to bargain merchandise featuring the lucrative pouch monsters — and this time, customers were held astatine gunpoint.

Speaking to ABC News, unit astatine the Poké Court outlet successful the Meatpacking District person said that $100,000 worthy of banal was stolen successful conscionable 3 minutes, arsenic a squad of 3 robbers burst into the newly-opened store during its archetypal assemblage evening event.

As 1 thief smashed solid cabinets to get costly items, different held shoppers astatine gunpoint. A third, meanwhile, kept ticker astatine the door. "It was a escaped lawsuit and past 3 equipped men conscionable came successful and brandished guns successful [customers'] faces," store proprietor Courtney Chin said. The store has since employed a information guard.

A Pokémon paper thief brandishes a weapon during the latest store raid. Image: ABC News.

ABC News reports that akin thefts person occured successful Boston, Los Angeles and Seattle, arsenic the latest successful a agelong enactment of paper store robberies targeting Pokémon items.

"If you look astatine immoderate section paper store astir the country, there's a bully accidental they've gotten robbed," Chin added. "I've seen videos wherever the robbers volition passageway successful done the walls, oregon done the ceiling.

In December, $100,000 worthy of banal was besides swiped from a store successful Burbank — though that was overnight. At the time, Californian cops said they suspected the raid was linked to "half a dozen" akin thefts wrong the confederate fractional of the authorities successful caller weeks. Numerous different examples person besides occured nationwide implicit the past 12 months.

"We can't fto a fewer atrocious apples similar this ruin the hobby for everyone else," Chin concluded. "We privation to make a harmless abstraction for the assemblage and it truly sucks that similar 50 radical had to fundamentally get held up and held hostage."

Image credit: ABC News.

Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You tin scope Tom astatine [email protected] oregon find him connected Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social