Watch: Man Mocks Thieves After They Rob His Pokemon Card Store In US

In a bizarre case of theft in San Jose, California, Tofu’s Trading – a popular trading card store with a focus on Pokemon collectables, fell victim to a daring burglary in the early hours of Wednesday. The peculiar incident, captured by surveillance cameras, took place around 2:00 AM PST on January 24, featuring three thieves who broke into the premises. CCTV footage shows one of the suspects opted for a careful approach, crawling on the floor in an attempt to avoid triggering motion detectors. Despite the covert tactics employed by the thieves, their operation proved to be both swift and efficient.

In a matter of minutes, they absconded with a staggering haul of over 35,000 Pokemon cards, encompassing commonplace discoveries to potentially valuable rarities.

Amy Simpson, the store manager, revealed that the alarm system failed to activate due to malfunctioning motion detectors. Although the San Jose police responded promptly, the trio of robbery suspects had already made a speedy escape by the time police arrived.

“We saw like three people breaking in through our side door which was kind of ridiculous because there’s a fridge blocking it – so I don’t think it was a targeted attack at all,” commented Simpson in an interview with ABC7.

She added, “I don’t think they were in for a hobby necessarily because they didn’t know what to take.”

The store’s video footage reveals three thieves, their faces covered, searching through the store. Tofu’s Trading lightened the mood by playfully mocking the incident and the thieves in edited surveillance footage, complete with sound effects and graphics, which was shared on Instagram.

Watch the video here:

A post shared by Tofu’s Trading (@tofustrading)

“We had to have some fun after a long stressful day of cleanup, inventory count, police report, insurance filing, and more,” the store said on Instagram in a post featuring the comical video. “They can take our products, but they can never take away our love of running a local hobby store in our community.”

Although the perpetrators successfully absconded with both the cards and the cash register, the store manager mentioned that they overlooked a unique collection of cards. This specific set, slated for release by the store just two days later, is an exclusive annual release.

Tofu’s Trading, so far, estimates the stolen items are worth tens of thousands of dollars.

Simpson said she and her partner found out when a neighbour called them the next morning to say something was wrong: There was broken glass and Pokémon cards everywhere, as reported by The Washington Post.