Thieves Steal $15,000 in Pokémon Cards in Bay Area Heist

A group of audacious thieves in the Bay Area made off with thousands of dollars in Pokémon trading cards in under a minute.

This incident took place Saturday night at Card Lab in Brentwood, California. According to police, a trio broke into the store and stole around $15,000 worth of cards.

Surveillance footage captured the thieves, all clothed in black, jumping the counter and hastily tossing numerous cards into a large bag.

Police reported that the robbery was alarmingly swift; the thieves bypassed a glass display case in just 39 seconds before fleeing the scene.

They worked with surprising speed, efficiently clearing out boxes of highly coveted trading cards from the store.

The store owner, Ronnie Hackett, mentioned that the heist occurred while the manager was on a different floor, which was a relief for him. He said, “My first thought was, ‘I hope my employees are okay,’ and I was relieved to hear they were.” He was also concerned about assessing the damage.

“I was glad she wasn’t downstairs because it could have been much worse,” he added about the store manager who was upstairs completing end-of-day tasks.

After a brief closure to enhance security measures, the store appears to have reopened. Interestingly, it had only just celebrated its grand opening two months before the incident.

The police are still seeking help from the public to find the thieves, who are still at large.

This incident is part of a troubling trend of thieves attacking collectible stores specifically looking for specialty cards.

Just days prior, another group of thieves stole between $40,000 and $50,000 worth of Pokémon cards from a store in New Jersey during a similar burglary. In that case, surveillance footage showed the robbery taking a little over a minute.

Law enforcement is hopeful that license plate readers will assist in identifying the dark-colored SUV used in the getaway.

The police have not yet responded to inquiries regarding the situation.