- Back in our day, we just played with Pokémon cards.
A couple of months ago, we brought you the story of how Pokémon cards led to the arrest of a serial bomber in Maryland. Now, the cards featuring pocket-sized monsters are once again at the center of a crime case.
One thing is different, though. This time, the crook appears to be a police officer.
Josh Hardy, an ex-correctional officer from Calhoun County in Alabama, was arrested on August 12 and promptly relieved of his duties the following Monday. What infraction could’ve led to such severe disciplinary action?
Whatever you’re imagining, it’s probably not correct. Hardy was allegedly busted for stealing Pokémon cards from a local Walmart, reported Advance Local.
He made one vital mistake in his attempt to illicitly catch ‘em all. He committed his alleged burglary right in front of a store staff member.
Bizarre as this case is, it does highlight the ongoing spate of people stealing Pokémon and other trading card game cards, like Yu-Gi-Oh and Magic: The Gathering. The thieves often have no intention to play the games, though — they’re looking to sell high-value cards on a market that blew up massively during the pandemic.
A Uniformed Thief
The alleged theft happened on Saturday, August 12. Around 7 p.m., Hardy reportedly walked into a Walmart Supercenter in Oxford, Alabama.
He wasn’t even trying to blend in among the other shoppers. According to Calhoun County Sheriff Matthew Wade, Hardy had just finished a shift at the jail where he worked and was still in uniform.
Hardy gravitated toward the shelves holding Pokémon cards and other games. However, he wasn’t there just to window shop.
A Walmart loss prevention agent noticed Hardy acting suspiciously. They reported their observations to their colleagues and the team began keeping an eye on Hardy.
They witnessed Hardy opening multiple packages of Pokémon cards at the shelf. He browsed through them and slipped a few choice ones into his pockets.
He then started heading out — obviously with zero intention to pay for the cards in his pockets.
The loss prevention agents confronted Hardy at the doors. Realizing the jig was up, Hardy surrendered peacefully.
Nah, just kidding. He took off running.
The staff called Oxford police and reported that a uniformed corrections officer had just stolen property from the store. The cops responded and sent a squad to find Hardy.
They soon found him at a local restaurant with the stolen Pokémon cards still on him. They arrested him and took him to Oxford City Jail — this time to see the bars from the other side.
Hardy was officially terminated from his correctional officer position the following Monday. Sheriff Wade didn’t seem particularly happy with him.
“It is with great embarrassment that we have to report this incident … He has tarnished our agency and the image of all law enforcement,” said Sheriff Wade.
“As sheriff, I promised to be transparent and hold my staff accountable to a standard higher than average citizens.”
High-Profile Pokémon Crime
You might think stealing Pokémon cards is weird, but the thing is, they can be stupidly expensive. The trading card game market exploded over the pandemic and the prices of the card — for Pokémon and other games — have been sky-high ever since.
Case in point, singer Post Malone recently paid $2 million for a one-of-a-kind Magic: The Gathering card.
Even though most cards don’t reach such ridiculous amounts, rare ones can sell for thousands upon thousands of dollars. Even selling a few cards worth a couple of hundred can net you quite a tidy sum.
Those potential profits have attracted crooks of all kinds. For example, in April this year, a trading card seller in Texas got a call from a person wanting to sell piles upon piles of rare, shiny foiled Pokémon cards.
The thing is, to get that many of the exceedingly rare cards, the seller would have needed to open tens of thousands of Pokémon card booster packs. It was quite obvious the cards were stolen.
The store contacted the Pokémon company, which told them that the people responsible for pilfering the cards directly off the printing line had already been arrested. However, the information the store provided did help track down the missing valuable cards.
In February 2022, a more audacious crime happened in Minnesota. Thieves busted down the wall of a Forest Lake game store to access their storage room. The criminals stole about $250,000 worth of Pokémon cards and other merchandise related to the franchise.
Man. Remember when people used to just play card games instead of using them as a weird investment platform?