A 28-year-old man from Perry, Iowa, has been arrested for allegedly stealing Pokémon cards valued between $25,000 and $40,000 from TCG Planet, a local collectibles shop. Alex McClellan faces charges of first-degree theft and third-degree burglary after police say he took the cards on Sunday night, just 10 minutes after the store closed.
The store’s owners, initially believing the cards were gone for good, were stunned to learn the valuable cards were recovered. “We pretty much just wrote everything off. We thought it was gone,” said Justin Estes, owner of TCG Planet. “That was a lot of money, a lot of hassle, stress—it was scary there for a little bit.”
McClellan was arrested on Wednesday afternoon after trying to sell a small batch of 20 high-value Pokémon cards at Jay’s CD and Hobby in Des Moines. Store supervisor Raven Vorhees grew suspicious when she recognized specific cards, having been alerted by TCG Planet about the theft.
“It was just some specific cards. He had a small stack of cards and we were just really keeping an eye out for the value,” Vorhees explained.
Police believe McClellan had been to TCG Planet multiple times before the theft, likely planning the break-in in advance. Perry Police Chief James Archer expressed relief at recovering the stolen cards, noting, “We can typically solve a good majority of burglaries, but getting property back is virtually impossible because [suspects] usually get rid of it pretty quickly.”
McClellan is currently being held at the Dallas County Jail on a $10,000 cash bond.
