Police proceed to analyze a big amount of buying and selling playing cards that have been stolen from a gaming store in Newmarket final month, however the excellent news is that nearly 1 / 4 of them have been just lately recovered at one other gaming store in Barrie because of some intelligent ways by its employees.
On September 18, round 300 buying and selling playing cards have been stolen from Kris Fekete’s Enter The Battlefield gaming store.
“We got here in and noticed that the showcases for the ‘Magic: The Gathering’ and ‘Pokémon’ singles have been ravaged, and our playing cards have been taken,” recalled Fekete, proprietor of the Newmarket-based store.
Safety footage confirmed a person smashing and kicking within the store’s entrance door after which heading behind the money earlier than loading buying and selling playing cards valued at round $150,000 right into a bag.
However weeks later, Fekete acquired higher information.
“I received the message they have been arrested. It was a very good feeling,” stated Fekete.
On October 1, two males entered the OMG Video games retailer in Barrie and provided to commerce in a considerable amount of Magic playing cards.
“One in every of our workers seen instantly that it matched fairly effectively. Matched loads of the playing cards that have been lacking,” stated Rick Bates, the proprietor of OMG Video games.
The shop fastidiously received the phrase out to Fekete and York Regional Police with out the suspects figuring out. Fekete finally advised Bates by way of textual content to stall them and that police have been on their approach.
Bates and his employees stalled the suspects for 30 to 40 minutes.
“I used to be speaking about considerations about counterfeits,” shared Bates. “[My colleague] was simply doing small discuss, preserving them distracted.”
Lastly, Barrie cops arrived and arrested the 2 Georgina males, charging them with possession of property obtained by crime over $5,000.
Returning the playing cards introduced again the nostalgia for investigators.
“‘Magic: The Gathering’, improbable method to get by way of grade faculty. Pokémon I performed for a lot too lengthy,” recalled Constable James Dickson from York Regional Police. “The truth that the shop proprietor was capable of stall these folks was very helpful for each the York Regional Police, for our sufferer, in addition to for the Barrie Police to get there.”
The recovered playing cards have been valued at round $30,000 to $40,000, roughly 25 per cent of what was initially stolen.
“Everybody right here additionally received to have fun for the primary time in a few weeks, so it was very nice,” added Fekete.
Police say there is no proof to cost the 2 suspects with break-and-enter in relation to that preliminary September incident, including that the highest precedence for investigators stays recovering the remainder of the stolen property.
Police are additionally asking different gaming retailer homeowners to be looking out for something provided to them at a worth lower than what it needs to be price.
