Pokemon-card thief hits same Lakewood shop twice in past five months, owner says
For the second time in about five months, a Lakewood business was burglarized Sunday night, leaving a shattered door behind.
Robert Cantrell, owner of Pacific Northwest Gaming & Collectibles, told The News Tribune he learned of the theft Monday morning when he went to open up the shop. The suspected thief was caught on video surveillance breaking in through the smashed-in door.
Cantrell said the thief stole about $10-11,000 worth of Pokemon cards. He also stole free Pokemon packs and toys that were in a box for children. The store’s cats got out during the break-in, but they eventually came back.
His store was first burglarized Aug. 9, 2024, Cantrell said. That thief stole Pokemon cards, booster boxes and other merchandise.
“So all together, the first time and this time, [he stole] a little over $70,000,” he said.
Cantrell believes the thief who stole from him both times is the same person. He said there is footage of the man driving up to his store in August 2024 to allegedly burglarize it. No arrests have been made for either incident.
Lakewood police assigned an investigator to the August burglary, according to the department’s spokesperson Sgt. Charles Porche on Tuesday.
Porche said the investigator is still working to identify the individual or individuals responsible for the first break-in. He will be looking into Sunday’s burglary to see if there are any connections with the August incident.
Cantrell said PNW Gaming and Collectibles has been in business since February 2021, and it’s been in the Pacific Highway Southwest location as of July 2024.
The store is a living tribute to his sister, Kassandra Cantrell, who was murdered in August 2020. Cantrell describes the recent burglaries as a “disgrace” to his sister’s memory.
“We wanted to do a place that cared about the collector, not the business,” he said.
Cantrell said the store had to close Monday because of the shattered glass, but he plans to continue operating.
“It affects me in a way that I won’t be able to help more people,” he said. “The purpose of my story is, if you need to sell your collection, you can trust us to come in here, because we guarantee to pay you more for your stuff than any other store in the state, and if we don’t, we’ll give you $1,000 cash.”
Cantrell said he is not going to let the recent burglaries scare his business away. If anyone wants to support PNW Gaming and Collectibles, he welcomes them to shop at his store. He also welcomes any donations to the toys box meant for children.
“If anybody wants to donate anything for the kids box, we definitely appreciate so we can get that going again. There’s nothing that we can give away to kids at the moment,” he said.
This story was originally published January 8, 2025 at 5:30 AM.
