Police say a trading card store in Richmond, B.C., was robbed early Friday morning. Richmond RCMP say officers responded to a break-in at a business in the 3700 block of No. 3 Road in the Yaohan Centre shopping mall around 4:25 a.m. Videos posted by the store, Vancity CJ Trading Cards, show two masked individuals breaking glass doors and entering the store before saying, “get the slabs, everything,” and filling bags with items from trading card showcases. The store is owned by Richmond businessman and avid Pokémon card collector Jesse Peng and his wife CJ Dong. CTV News recently reported on Peng being scammed in a near-million-dollar deal. Around a week before the robbery, the couple moved their business from a smaller location in the same mall. “Officers attended the scene, secured the area to ensure public safety, and initiated an investigation. Preliminary information indicates that an unknown number of suspects stole collectible trading cards from the business,” Richmond RCMP said in a statement emailed to CTV News. Trading card store robberies have become increasingly common on the Lower Mainland as the values of some high-end collectibles continue to soar. On its website, the store shows a Pokémon card listed for $1.45 million. Neither the store nor the RCMP has said what was stolen or its estimated value. Mounties say they’re actively investigating the robbery and will review CCTV and analyze forensic evidence. “Investigators are pursuing all available avenues of inquiry,” police added.
