By admin 
TEMPE, AZ (AZFamily) — A masked man used a sledgehammer to break into a Tempe trading card shop this week and stole about $7,000 worth of Pokémon cards, according to the store’s owner.
Read more Ex-girlfriend of boy band member charged with trying to hire a hitman to kill him
Security cameras captured the suspect shattering the front door of Skyluxx Grinds before entering Bussin’ or Bustin’ Trading Card Lounge near Mill and Southern avenues early Tuesday morning.
The video shows the man making two trips in and out of the store, filling a storage bin with merchandise from the shelves.
Phi Cao, owner of Bussin’ or Bustin’ Trading Card Lounge, said the burglary was a classic smash and grab.
“You feel violated,” Cao said.
When Cao arrived at the scene, he found broken glass, a sledgehammer and shattered display cases.
Cao opened the store a few months ago. He said other card shop owners warned him about the risk.
“An inside joke that some other card shop owners have had with me is that it’s not a if, but when, because stuff like this does happen, especially with how hot Pokémon is right now,” Cao said.
Card shop burglaries part of broader trend
A card shop in Phoenix was hit twice in the last six months and no one has been arrested. The crime trend has made international headlines.
Cao said thieves target Pokémon cards because they can be traded for a lot of cash.
Read more Florida biologist fired over Charlie Kirk post after his death wins $485,000 settlement
“We’re talking about single slabs that are worth tens of thousands of dollars. We’re talking about cash that people have in the hundreds of thousands of dollars that they carry on them. So it is a hobby where there is a lot of liquid money being moved around,” Cao said.
One of Bussin’ or Bustin’ Trading Card Lounge’s regular customers, Kenji Ellison, said the theft hurts everyone.
“It’s a pain for everybody in this community. Obviously, as we already know, it’s difficult to get your hands on cards. So somebody stealing cards to try to take advantage of somebody else and extort them, it’s definitely an evil thing,” Ellison said.
Cao said he takes the most valuable cards home each night to keep his product safe and deter crime.
“Imagine going to jail and catching a felony charge over shiny cardboard,” Cao said. “I’m really hoping someone makes an example out of this guy and have the next guy think twice.”
Tempe police say the case has been assigned to a detective, and the investigation remains ongoing.
Anyone with information about the burglary is asked to contact Tempe police.
See a spelling or grammatical error in our story? Please click here to report it.
Do you have a photo or video of a breaking news story? Send it to us here with a brief description.
Read more Flight schools sue Mesa over Falcon Field landing fees