Federal prosecutors announced charges Thursday against a man they say robbed two New York City stores at gunpoint in January, walking away with nearly $130,000 worth of Pokemon cards.
Andy David Palacios Ortiz faces one count of robbery and another of conspiracy to commit robbery.
In one Manhattan store, the robbers walked away with $115,995 in Pokemon merchandise. Another robbery in Queens netted $11,700 worth of Pokemon merchandise.
The cards, which depict fantastical characters and can be used in “fights” between decks of cards, are going through a craze, with collectors scouring packs looking for sought-after — and expensive — cards.
It has also spurred some reports of robberies across the nation.
Investigators said they identified Mr. Palacios as the “organizer” of the two New York robberies, fingering him as the man who recruited the driver and fenced some of the stolen cards.
He was captured on surveillance video casing both stores ahead of the robberies, asking about some of the valuable cards in display cases. After the robbery, authorities say he was captured on video pawning some of the stolen cards nearby.
Mr. Palacios, 28, was also tied to the robberies through his phone and the admissions of a man who admitted to being the driver for both robberies.
Jay Clayton, the U.S. attorney in Manhattan, said the robberies “terrified multiple store employees and customers.”
“Gun violence is a threat to the safety and security of our neighborhoods, and Palacios now stands charged with serious federal crimes,” he said.
The robbers wore ski masks and gloves.
They used a hammer to smash the case in the Manhattan robbery, and in the Queens robbery, one of them grabbed a Pokemon card out of the hands of a customer.
