Pair of hammer-wielding, masked crooks steal thousands of dollars worth of Pokmon cards from 2 stores

Cops are on the hunt for a pair of hammer-wielding masked bandits who stole thousands of dollars worth of collectible Pokémon cards from two Detroit-area stores over a five-day crime spree earlier this month.The card thieves hit both stores in the early morning before either was open and caused massive damage to one by smashing the glass displays showcasing the cards, according to cops and reports.In the first heist, the duo — dressed in all black and wearing full face coverings — hit RIW Hobbies & Gaming in Livonia on May 16 around 5 a.m., Fox 2 Detroit reported.

Store owner Pam Willoughby came in to open the shop later that morning and discovered her glass cases shattered and her Pokémon cards missing.She checked her security cameras and watched the footage in horror as the two Pokémon perps smashed her display cases with a hammer, grabbed the cards, and stuffed them in sacks before running off.“When I actually watched them just standing in the building by themselves swinging a hammer, it was a little unnerving — it was an invasion,” Willoughby told WXYZ.She told Fox 2 that the bandits cost her $12,000 between the damage to her store and the price of the cards.She believes the sticky-fingered duo may have taken the stash to sell at the Motor City Comic Con, where hundreds of vendors gather to trade Pokémon and other similar cards — which began the very same day of her break-in.A few days later, on May 20, again around 5 a.m., a similarly dressed hammer-wielding suspect broke into Eternal Games in Warren, where he stole more Pokémon cards, security footage shows.

That time, the bandit leapt over the display case, crammed the cards into a sack, and escaped, according to  WXYZ. “They didn’t smash out the showcase but hopped the showcase, opened up the showcase and then crouched down and took, took, hopped over and left,” Eternal Games assi...