A 33-year-old West Palm Beach man discovered the hard way that collecting Pokémon cards can be a contact sport after he allegedly used a rock, a battery-powered chainsaw, and his own blood to pull off a $12,000 trading card heist.
The owner of the Lake Park collectibles store, Collection Realm, contacted the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office on May 21 to report that someone had taken “gotta catch ’em all” way too literally during an overnight burglary.
According to an arrest report, surveillance video captured the chaotic break-in, which began with the suspect attempting to smash the storefront window with a rock. When the rock failed, he escalated to a battery-powered chainsaw, using it to cut a triangle into the hurricane-proof glass—a tactical choice that reportedly left his own blood smeared at the scene.
Once inside, the suspect allegedly bypassed standard merchandise to snatch $12,000 worth of high-value items. The store owner later realized he had actually seen the man browsing in the shop just two days prior to the break-in, apparently scoping out the inventory.
The suspect, identified as Clayton Warren, forgot that real-world law enforcement has better tracking tools than a Pokédex. Investigators used license plate readers to locate Warren’s car, which had been spotted on the store’s surveillance footage. Deputies executed a search warrant at the address tied to the vehicle, and Warren was promptly arrested and charged with burglary and grand theft.
This dramatic smash-and-grab reflects a broader, weirder trend in retail crime. Pokémon card thefts have spiked in recent years, driven by supply shortages and aggressive scalping that have turned cardboard pocket monsters into investments. Collection Realm kept its most valuable cards secured behind glass cases near the cash register, alongside specialized Pokémon boxes that regularly fetch quadruple their retail price due to intense demand.
Warren didn’t stay in a jail cell for long, though. He was released from custody the following day after posting a $20,000 surety bond—ultimately costing him $8,000 more than the entire estimated value of the cards he allegedly tried to steal.
READ: Pokémon Card ‘Line-Cutting’ Ends In Indiana Grocery Store Shooting
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