Person Robbed of $300K Worth of Pokémon Cards at Gunpoint amid a String of Similar Thefts Across Los Angeles By Kimberlee Speakman

Police are warning Pokémon card collectors to guard their Pikachus, Charizards and Snorlaxes amid a string of recent robberies, as they have not caught ’em all.

A customer at the RWT Collective store in west L.A. was reportedly robbed at gunpoint for his rare collection of cards, estimated at a whopping $300,000 value, according to KTLA, NBC Los Angeles and Fox LA.

The incident occurred on the night of Sunday, Jan. 4 as the customer entered an underground parking garage. The customer was held at gunpoint by two suspects who had also been at the shop earlier, according to KTLA.

“He was just leaving, just trying to go home,” RWT Collective co-owner Danny Leserman told the outlet.

Leserman and co-owner Christopher Chou told KTLA that as a result of the incident, they were planning to increase their “security systems” at the shop and were “going to get more cameras into the building.” 

They said they were also working with property management on having armed guards at the store and the building.

This wasn’t the only crime connected to stolen Pokémon cards. Simi Valley police told NBC Los Angeles that officers responded to a theft at a shopping center that same weekend at around 3 a.m. 

Officers discovered that thieves broke into a shop with a chainsaw, then broke display cases and stole the valuable cards inside. They reportedly made off with at least $50,000 in valuable cards, per the outlet.

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The LAPD told NBC Los Angeles that it was looking into whether the two incidents were connected. So far no arrests have been made in either case, per the outlet.

The LAPD and Simi Valley Police Department did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s inquiries for comment on the incidents.

Leserman told KTLA that the high value of some cards may be attractive to certain thieves.

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“Most of the time, they’re used, and they’re not in good enough quality to be considered collectible,” said Leserman. “And so when they do rise to a level, that’s when the dollar amount can really get to be something pretty out there.”

Police have since issued safety tips for collectors in order to minimize the risk of being targeted by thieves, including using discreet packaging to hold their cards and to avoid flashing “high-value” items in public places, according to Fox LA.

They also recommend making high-end transactions in well-lit, monitored locations and looking into getting specialized insurance policies for their cards, especially the higher value ones.