$100K in Pokémon cards stolen from Carrollton shop

CARROLLTON, Ga. - Police are investigating a Christmas Eve burglary at a local trading card shop where a thief took more than $100,000 in merchandise.

What they're saying:

The break-in happened around 5 a.m. Wednesday at Tag Collects on Bankhead Highway. Co-owner Tommy Brown said he was alerted to the burglary after someone used a tow hitch ball to shatter the front door.

"We had somebody throw a tow hitch ball through our front door," Brown said.

Surveillance video shows the person entering the store, bypassing the cash register and heading directly to specific display cases. In less than two minutes, the individual took several high-value items, including rare Pokémon cards and sealed boxes.

"For all the Pokémon collectors out there, they’ll know what I mean when I say Umbreon or 'Moonbreon' card. It’s about a $2,500 to $3,000 card. We had a couple of those," Brown said. "We had a couple of Gold Star Rayquazas, which combined is about $14,000. Then we had some sealed boxes that you can no longer get; those were about $8,000 to $12,000 per box."

Brown told police he believes the person may have visited the store before because of how they located the inventory. He noted that a few people had recently spent time in that area of the shop without buying anything or speaking to staff.

"He ended up reaching around the back and grabbing all the highest-end singles we had, which leads us to believe—because he passed the cash register, passed the first two displays—leads us to believe he’s been in here before," Brown said. "There were a couple of people that came in that kind of stayed in that area and didn’t buy anything, didn’t want to discuss anything with us. There was one guy that we’re pretty sure was trying to sell us stolen products."

What you can do:

The store has set up a GoFundMe page to help with repairs and staff payroll. Carrollton police are investigating and ask anyone with information to contact them.