A Florida man has been arrested for stealing $12,000 (Rs 11.4 lakh) worth of Pokemon cards using a chainsaw.

A US man has been arrested and charged with burglary and grand theft after stealing $12,000 (Rs 11.4 lakh) worth of Pokemon cards from a store during a break-in that involved a battery-powered chainsaw. The accused, identified as 33-year-old Clayton Warren, allegedly sliced through the hurricane-resistant glass of Collection Realm in Lake Park on May 21, escaping with $12,000 worth of Pokemon cards. The store owner discovered the destructive scene and missing merchandise the following morning.

Surveillance video showed a masked man attempting to enter the store around 1:30 am. After initial attempts failed, the suspect returned 90 minutes later with a handheld battery-powered chainsaw and cut a triangular hole through the hurricane glass.

The suspect then crawled through the opening, grabbed the sealed Pokemon cards, and individually sleeved collectible cards from display cases before escaping through the same hole. Warren's identity was quickly unravelled after the investigators spotted the licence plate on his car. Blood was also left behind at the scene, following the chainsaw usage.

The store owner also confirmed that Warren had recently shopped at Collection Realm. The police later executed search warrants at Warren's West Palm Beach residence and arrested him. 

Pokemon Cards Theft

The incident is the latest in a global wave of high-value trading card heists. On Wednesday (May 27), Tokyo police arrested two men for allegedly stealing 306 Pokemon cards worth roughly 34 million yen from a van. Tatsuki Hosoya, 27, and Kota Kobayashi, 26, are accused of stealing the cards from a van transporting trading cards while it was parked in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward last December.

When the driver stopped to enter a store and make a pickup, he locked the van. However, Kobayashi was working for the delivery company at the time and used a spare key to unlock the van door and steal the cards.

Similarly, a suspect broke into Bussin' Or Bustin' Trading Card Lounge in Arizona on Sunday (May 24) using a sledgehammer, stealing over $7,000 worth of Pokemon cards and other merchandise off the shelves while causing more than $10,000 in damage to the building.

Last month, another desperate Pokemon fan was arrested in Pasadena, California, after hiding inside a closed Best Buy ahead of a Pokemon card drop.