A man has been arrested following an attempted theft of a rare Pokémon card from a gaming and collectibles store in Ravenhall, Melbourne. CCTV footage captured the incident, which occurred around 8.30 PM yesterday when two individuals entered the shop and were shown a valuable, sealed Van Gogh Pokémon card.
As the staff attended to them, one male allegedly seized the card and both fled the scene. Staff members swiftly pursued the suspects; one was successfully restrained until police arrived, but the other managed to escape. Authorities have since confirmed that they recovered a knife from the apprehended individual, although they do not believe it was used during the theft.
The arrested suspect, a 23-year-old man from Tarneit, has been charged with theft and possessing a controlled weapon. He has been released on bail and is set to appear in Sunshine Magistrates’ Court on July 30.
Despite a thorough search of the area, police have yet to locate the second suspect and are working to identify him. Investigators continue to believe that the stolen Pokémon card remains unaccounted for.
Authorities are calling for anyone with information or who may have footage related to the incident to reach out to Crime Stoppers at 1800 333 000 or anonymously through their website.