Thief Steals $250,000 Worth of Pokemon Cards After Breaking Through Card Shop Wall

In the middle of the night on February 10, a lone thief has broken into a locally-owned card and game shop in Forest Lake, Minnesota, and the robber escaped with $250,000 worth of Pokemon cards and cash.

As KARE 11 reported, Punch Out Gaming describes itself as a "mom and pop store" that buys and sells collectible trading cards and video games. The shop has seen a huge increase in demand for Pokemon collectibles, especially trading cards, and this is most likely the reason why the thief targeted this place to steal reare Pokemon cards and other Pokemon-related merchandise.

On Feb. 10, the thief broke through a sidewall in the back of the store after entering a shop right next door to Punch Out Gaming. After making a small hole through the wall, he entered the store's storage area and spent nearly two hours loading up on Pokemon cards, and this robbery was caught on camera via the surveillance system of the shop.

According to the report, the store's alarms did not activate because the burglar never opened any doors.

Punch Out Gaming co-owner Jason Peterson told KARE 11 that he felt "numb" watching the video of the thief grabbing cards and other pieces of Pokemon merch.

“I just feel numb, just watching somebody come in and take everything away that you worked so hard to build up over the years,” said Peterson.

Eric Johnson, another owner of the store, told Fox 9 that he believes another person helped the burglar as there were plenty of boxes to move in a short amount of time.

“I realized how much money, product, and time we put into it, and I just started crying...I can’t recover this product because our distributors don’t have any. So, even with the insurance money, that doesn’t do us any good,” said Johnson.

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You can see a clear look at the suspect who broke into the game store in the surveillance video. The owners of Punch Out Gaming don't recognize this man, but ask that anyone who recognizes him contact the store at (651) 464-9820, or the Forest Lake Police.