Video allegedly shows man walking out of store with 500 Pokémon cards stuffed under shirt
WBZ
By AARON PARSEGHIAN
Click here for updates on this story
WORCESTER, Massachusetts (WBZ) — A Worcester store known as a community hub for all things Japanese manga culture was hit by a costly theft over the weekend.
John Le, owner of Otaku Sekai – which roughly translates from Japanese to “Nerd World” – said surveillance cameras caught a man stealing hundreds of Pokémon cards Saturday from his Park Avenue shop.
“It was a busy day,” Le said. “I had rows of people just trying to look at product cards and everything else. It was a very good opportunity for anyone that wanted to kind of, like, steal something.”
Video showed the suspect flipping through binders of Pokémon cards, stuffing several into his sweatshirt, then walking out with another full binder. Le estimated the man took around 500 cards worth more than $3,500.
“Three thousand dollars is two weeks of my staff’s pay,” Le said. “It’s a lot of money to us.”
The cards ranged in price from $5 to $15 each, far less than the rare, high-value collectibles that can sell for thousands. Le said the taking of that specific inventory makes the loss sting even more.
“My whole inventory in that price range is something that parents and kids can actually afford day to day,” he said. “So, it’s kind of sad that my whole inventory in that price range is gone.”
Le opened Otaku Sekai four years ago after leaving his corporate job, turning a small mall kiosk into a popular local gathering place for manga and trading card enthusiasts.
He says his goal was to create “a space for people to come and just hang out, be social, meet each other,” bonding through a common and growing interest.
Now, photos of the suspect are posted outside the shop as Worcester police investigate. Despite the setback, Le said he remains focused on the sense of community that first inspired his business.
“The family bonding – you know, the friends, the emotion, the feels that’s all into these cardboard that’s worth so much more than their monetary value,” he said.
Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.