Danica Davidson
June 6, 2023 
Stealing Pokémon cards has been a big issue lately. Just yesterday Otaku USA reported on a 25-year-old man in Tokyo being arrested for allegedly stealing about $15,000 worth of Pokémon cards from a single store. That same man admitted to the charges and has said he’s stolen from other stores in Japan as well. Today there are two new news stories about Pokémon card theft, and these both happened in America.
First off, someone broke into a trading card store called Pozjoker Games on East Florida Avenue, in Hemet, California. Not a whole lot of information has been released to the public, but we know the crime happened on May 25 and that the thief took more than $10,000 worth of Pokémon cards. It appears the thief or thieves made a big hole in the wall in order to get inside. The KTLA report said they have no suspects yet.
The other theft took place in Jonesboro, Arkansas, but instead of stealing from a store, someone stole from a home residence. The owner, who had been collecting Pokémon cards since the 1990s, was away for a month. Back at home after this long period, the owner discovered someone had broken his window to get in. In addition to losing more than 30,000 (!!) Pokémon cards, the owner says he had his PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch and TV stolen. Altogether, he says his stolen items are worth about $12,000. Police were called to the scene for this crime on June 4.
KAIT, the station reporting on this news, ended the article with, “Anyone with information on the theft should call Crimestoppers at 935-STOP (7867),” giving the impression there might not be any suspects for this case, either.
This means there are multiple Pokémon thieves out there, and hopefully authorities will crack the cases soon.
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Danica Davidson is the author of the bestselling Manga Art for Beginners with artist Melanie Westin, plus its sequel, Manga Art for Everyone, and the first-of-its-kind manga chalk book Chalk Art Manga, both illustrated by professional Japanese mangaka Rena Saiya. Check out her other comics and books at www.danicadavidson.com.
