Pickup Rams Tacoma Card Shop in Smash-and-Grab: About $50,000 in Pokémon and Magic Cards Stolen, Police Seek the Truck
Police in Tacoma, Washington, said that shortly after 5 a.m. on Nov. 2, a black pickup truck rammed through the rear metal doors of Northwest Sportscards on 6th Avenue, and two masked thieves ran inside and, in just a few minutes, filled totes with about $50,000 worth of Pokémon and Magic: The Gathering cards from the shelves and storeroom before fleeing. Owner Don Knutsen, who has run the shop for nearly 40 years, said the burglars were in and out in a couple of minutes. Tacoma police said it was the second time in four months that a pickup had been used to break into the store the same way; no arrests had been reported as of Nov. 7, and police are asking the public for help.
Surveillance video shows the thieves going for sealed boxes of cards. Knutsen said they came looking for Pokémon but ended up taking a lot of Magic cards as well; many of the stolen cards were in sealed boxes with no serial numbers or identifying marks, which makes them far harder to trace. He put the face value of the stolen merchandise at about $50,000 but said he would have to sell ten times that amount to make up the loss.
Tacoma police released a description of the vehicle they want to find: a dark 2006 or 2007 Dodge Ram 2500 or 3500 with a Mega Cab or extended cab, a broken taillight on the driver's side and damage to the rear bumper, carrying a reported stolen Washington license plate, C12766M. Police said the same truck was used in an earlier ram-and-grab burglary at the store in August, when thousands of dollars in sports cards were taken.
Knutsen has put up a $5,000 reward of his own for information leading to an arrest and charges, and Crime Stoppers of Tacoma-Pierce County is offering up to $1,000 more for anonymous tips at 1-800-222-8477. The shop has since hired overnight security guards, seven nights a week.
(Source: Tacoma Police Department)
Source: Tacoma Police Department
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：华盛顿州 Tacoma 市中心资料图（事发卡店位于该市 6th Avenue）。本站档案图复用。 / Photo: File photo of downtown Tacoma, Washington (the card shop involved is on the city's 6th Avenue). GSM archive image reused.
