$100K of Pokémon cards gone in a minute, trading store says

Pokémon loot: A trading card store in Carroll County says they lost $100,000 after a Christmas Eve attack targeting their Pokémon collection.

Channel 2’s Eryn Rogers He was in Carrollton and was talking to the store owner there about what was going on.

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The owner said the display case was full of top-quality cards like this Chase Card, and the cheapest thing there was $600.

“He was here for about 60, 63 seconds and took $100,000 worth of items,” said co-owner Tommy Brown.

Surveillance video from Tag Collects in Carrollton shows those brief moments.

“He ran in with a hammer and went to what we call the high-end corner. A few of the cards he got were Pokémon. Collectors will know what I mean when I say Moon Brion. We had a few of those. They were about $4 to $5,000,” he said.

It was inventory purchased with personal money.

“The collection took about three years,” Brown said.

Carrollton Police say the incident happened around 5 a.m. Wednesday

“We wanted to be open on Christmas Eve because at the last minute, my kid needs it. My kid wants it. You know, I couldn’t do that,” Brown said.

“What are you trying to catch today?” Brown said he spent the day picking up this glass and trying to figure out the depth of the damage.

“Some of them we cannot replace because they are no longer available for purchase in the market,” he said.

Pokémon card thefts are becoming more common.

“There is no way to track them because they are not serialized,” Brown said.

Brown and other business owners say that won’t deter them and they hope to reopen next week.

“We’ll be safer. We just want to be here for their community,” Brown said.

Police are still looking for the thief. The owners believe the person had entered the store before.

They also set up an online fundraiser.

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