2 Minnesota men were charged with stealing a quarter million dollars worth of Pokemon cards after prosecutors said they burrowed a hole into a store called 'Punch-Out Gaming'

• Two men were charged with stealing a quarter million dollars worth of Pokemon cards.
• According to The Minnesota Star Tribune, they intended to pawn the cards off.

Two Minnesota men were hit with felony burglary charges for stealing thousands of packs of Pokemon cards by burrowing a hole into a local gaming store, in a valiant effort to catch 'em all.

The men made off with more than $250,000 worth of Pokemon cards after raiding the Punch-Out Gaming store in Forest Lake, Minnesota, prosecutors alleged in a May 2023 criminal complaint, according to The Minnesota Star Tribune.

During the February 2022 burglary, one of the men broke into the business next door to the gaming shop, chopped through drywall, and blacked out a security camera with tape before going about his business.

The Star Tribune reported that on February 9, 2022, prosecutors alleged that Dustin Anthony Wittern and Matthew James Cuypers Jr. stole at least 2,824 sealed packs of the cards before jetting off. They were hit with felony third-degree burglary charges by Washington County, Minnesota, prosecutors.

Cuypers Jr. stole the cards while Wittern waited outside for him in a truck, the complaint stated, per KSTP, the area's ABC affiliate. One of the men knew a prospective buyer for the cards that they planned to pawn the cards off too, per the Star Tribune.

According to court documents for a separate federal case involving selling meth, Cuypers Jr. was arrested weeks after the 2022 burglary as authorities tracked him down for the illicit drug investigation.

In an interview for the meth case, Cuypers Jr. admitted to authorities that he partook in the Pokemon heist, per the Star Tribune. Police investigating the Pokemon card burglary said that a knife that was used to cut the drywall from the store next door had DNA that matched Wittern's and that they also collected the tape used on the store's security camera.

The store's owner, Eric Johnson, told the Star Tribune that the cost of the cards was $150,000 and their sale value was $250,000. The cards have not been recovered.

An attorney for Cuypers Jr. did not immediately return Insider's request for comment.