Thieves smash through wall to steal $20,000 in Pokmon cards from Anaheim shop
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Three suspects broke into an Anaheim Pokémon card shop early Wednesday morning, smashing display cases and fleeing with an estimated $20,000 worth of cards.In the latest of a seemingly growing crime trend, the burglars first broke into the business next door to Do-We Collectibles on Harbor Boulevard, then tore through the drywall to reach the shop, triggering a security alert that woke owner Duy Pham at home around 3 a.m.Pham called 911and told police the suspects were armed with a sledgehammer.He said he then rushed to the scene, but the display cases were empty by the time he arrived.
It was his second break-in since opening the shop in 2023.Thieves hit Do-We Collectibles last June, when the shop was still fairly new.
Pham responded by investing in additional security cameras, alarms and vaults.“Being in this business, we have a pretty big target on our back,” Pham said.“You never know if you’ll get hit again or not.”The Anaheim burglary is the latest in a wave of Pokémon card thefts sweeping Southern California.
Shops in Gardena, Simi Valley and Huntington Beach have all been hit by burglars bypassing cash registers and going straight for the cards.Losses across the region have topped $500,000 in just two months, according to authorities.“The card collecting world is not the same anymore because of attention that it got from big folks who put their money into the hobby and see it as a big investment,” Pham said.
California A series of Pokemon card thefts are hitting Southern California collectors, with some losing hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of cards at a time.Individual Pokémon cards can sell for thousands of dollars.Social media personality Logan Paul recently sold a rare card for $16.5 million.
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