A man in Pasadena, California, has been arrested after he hid inside a closed Best Buy ahead of a Pokémon card drop.
As reported by NBC Los Angeles, 45-year-old Patrick Keys managed to hide inside a Pasedena Best Buy location after it had closed and was seen walking around the store by employees monitoring the camera feed. Employees called the police, and Keys was arrested on suspicion of burglary. Police say there were no signs of a forced entry, suggesting he found somewhere to hide when the store closed for the night.
Fans will often line up outside retailers for hours in hopes of getting cards ahead of new drops and restocks, either to collect or resell for profit. Witnesses who had been lined up outside the Best Buy speculated that Keys may have been hiding inside the store so he could have an advantage in snagging Pokémon cards. From what we can tell, there has not been a new card drop since the Mega Evolution — Ascended Heroes bundles came out April 24, meaning Keys hid out for a restock.
Pokémon cards are extremely lucrative, which sometimes leads to people taking desperate measures to get the jump on them. IGN’s Max Scoville recently put together a feature about the many controversies of Pokémon across its 30-year history, highlighting just how strange and dark the world of Pokémon can be at times.
High-value Pokémon cards have sold for as high as $16 million, proving just how significant the market for these trading cards can be. This has led to frustration among some fans, as they simply want to collect and battle with their cards, but resellers make efforts to buy up stock and make them difficult or expensive to collect.
Cade Onder is a freelancer for IGN's news team. He covers all things entertainment, including gaming, film, and more. You can find him on Twitter @Cade_Onder.