TAMPA, FL — Two Tampa men were arrested in the theft of a rare Pokémon card worth about $1,050, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.
Detectives began investigating the theft of the card, identified as a “Mega Gengar ex 284/217,” from a local card shop on March 17.
When the suspects, Joseph Roque, 36, and Enrique Saucedo, 26, went into the business on March 17, one distracted the clerk while the other took the card from a display case, deputies said. They left the store with the stolen card.
Detectives later learned that Roque and Saucedo committed a similar theft earlier this month at another store in downtown St. Petersburg.
Roque was taken into custody on Friday, investigators said.
During the investigation, detectives learned that Saucedo had an outstanding warrant from the Tampa Police Department for kidnapping, false imprisonment and domestic violence battery in an unrelated case.
On Friday, detectives surveilled a Tampa home where they believed Saucedo was located. They moved in when Saucedo tried to avoid being seen, the sheriff’s office said.
After briefly reentering the home, he was taken into custody without incident.
Both suspects are facing grand theft charges related to the stolen Pokémon card.
Roque was also charged with dealing in stolen property, while Saucedo is additionally facing the charges from his outstanding warrant.
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