$300K in rare Pokemon cards stolen in string of Calif. thefts

"In the historic Sawtelle Japantown area of West Los Angeles, a customer of RWT Collective was confronted in a parking garage by two men, reports KNBC-TV. One of the men allegedly brandished a firearm, and the pair is said to have fled with a case of rare Pokémon cards valued at hundreds of thousands of dollars, perhaps $300,000 or more. Local news site KTLA-TV says the customer may have been followed from the store before the alleged attack. SFGATE reached out to LAPD for more information but did receive a response by publication."

"Earlier in the day, a group of burglars was caught on surveillance cameras at a separate trading card store in the suburban city of Simi Valley to the northwest, breaking glass cases and making off with much of the merchandise at Simi Sportscards. Black-and-white security footage shows a handful of burglars wiping out the store's multiple cases in less than five minutes, working quickly through shattered glass to dump Pokémon cards and other objects into duffel bags before making their escape, all while alarm bells blared. KNBC-TV says that the value of the merchandise is over $50,000, and that's on top of repair costs to the shop."

"A similar burglary also went down in Burbank, the sleepy San Fernando Valley city a bit north of Downtown LA, last month. Kiet Nguyen, who owns LA Sports Cards, told KTLA-TV that the Dec. 2 burglary lasted only "a couple of minutes," enough time for a trio of burglars to disable a metal gate using a power saw before making off with $100,000 in Pokémon cards and other merchandise. That burglary was also captured on camera."

Multiple robberies and burglaries across greater Southern California targeted trading card stores and collectors, resulting in losses of hundreds of thousands of dollars. In Sawtelle Japantown, two men allegedly confronted a customer in a parking garage, one brandishing a firearm, and fled with a case of rare Pokémon cards valued at perhaps $300,000 or more. Surveillance footage captured burglars smashing display cases at Simi Sportscards and filling duffel bags with cards and other merchandise in under five minutes, with losses over $50,000. In Burbank, thieves used a power saw to disable a metal gate and stole about $100,000 in cards. Several incidents were recorded on camera.

Read at SFGATE