Two people have been arrested in San Francisco and booked into the Juvenile Justice Center on robbery and conspiracy charges after allegedly assaulting and stealing from someone trying to sell Pokémon cards.
According to a San Francisco Police Department media release, on May 28, a male met up with a potential buyer to sell his Pokémon trading cards. In the meetup, the buyer was examining the cards, pretended to pay, sprayed the seller with pepper spray and then ran away with the cards.
The suspect got into a nearby car with two other suspects.
On May 29, an investigation was launched with the Real Time Investigation Center. They were able to locate the car and witnessed the occupants getting out of it on a nearby street.
“Members assigned to the Citywide Plainclothes team maintained surveillance and identified the occupants as suspects in the robbery,” an SFPD statement said. “The officers formulated a plan and safely took the suspects into custody.”
Officers searched the car and gathered evidence. SFPD officers searched the suspect’s home and seized additional evidence.
Police said that while arrests have been made, the investigation is ongoing.
And while this robbery took place in San Francisco, crimes such as this aren’t particular to the Bay Area.
The Times reported in Jaunary that trading card owners had been the target of several violent thefts.
Business owners said they had been held at gunpoint, burglarized and even physically harmed.
“Right now, there’s more security needed for Pokémon cards than diamonds,” said Taylor Minatogawa, owner of Buddies Collectibles. “It’s getting crazy.”
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