Overview
- Three masked men, one displaying a gun and others wielding hammers, stormed Poké Court on West 13th Street around 6:45 p.m. on Jan. 14 and smashed display cases in a roughly three-minute raid.
- The holdup occurred during the shop’s first arts-and-crafts night with more than 40 attendees, who were held at gunpoint as a suspect pulled a front curtain to block exits.
- About $100,000 to $120,000 in merchandise was taken along with cash and a customer’s phone, including high-value authenticated cards such as a first-edition Charizard reportedly worth about $15,000.
- No injuries were reported and no arrests have been announced as the NYPD reviews security video and searches for three suspects described as masked men carrying a firearm and hammers, with reports noting anime backpacks.
- The case is the latest in a string of high-dollar trading-card thefts reported in recent months in California and Massachusetts, prompting shops and graders to tighten security and consider measures such as limiting displays and hiring guards.