A suspected Pokémon thief was arrested after police say he was recognized at a Manchester, New Hampshire, card shop while allegedly attempting to buy more Pokémon cards.
The suspect was identified as 41-year old Chencai Xie who is accused of using a fraudulent credit card to purchase five Pokémon cards worth a combined $13,400 from a Raynham, Massachusetts trading card shop on August 5th.
Police say surveillance video from the Raynham shop showed the suspect wearing a black hat, a black T-shirt with a dog on it and a black cross-body bag. Investigators also identified the make, model and registration of the white Mercedes-Benz he allegedly drove away in.
The day after, a card shop in Manchester, New Hampshire notified Raynham Police that a man fitting the suspect’s description was inside the store attempting to purchase Pokémon cards.
Investigators say Xie was driving the same Mercedes-Benz, which was determined to be a rental car, and was wearing the same clothing he had worn during the alleged purchase the previous day.
The cards the suspect purchased in Raynham included a Bubble Mew valued at $3,200, a Jolteon V worth $1,300, a Shining Mew valued at $1,450, a Magikarp worth $4,300 and a Blastoise valued at $1,250.
Raynham Police DepartmentRaynham Police Department
Xie was arrested under two charges of credit card fraud and larceny.
The Pokémon cards have not yet been recovered and Xie will be arraigned in Taunton District Court at a later date.