‘Pokémon Prowler’: Thief Burglarized Stores Selling Collectible Trading Cards in Multiple States

A thief dubbed the "Pokémon Prowler" for committing a series of burglaries at stores selling collectible trading card games was sentenced to 27 months in prison and ordered to pay nearly $300,000 in restitution.

Nicholas Ryan Garrison, 25, originally from Tulsa, Okla., was linked by DNA to a spate of thefts at gaming stores across Oklahoma, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas and Texas, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Oklahoma.

The Tulsa Police Department in Oklahoma, the Dallas Police Department and the Bedford Police Department in Texas, the Crestwood Police Department in Missouri, the Troy Police Department in Illinois, Great Bend Police Department and the McPherson Police Department in Kansas, and the FBI all assisted in investigating the case.

Police in each of those jurisdictions investigated thefts at gaming stores in which Garrison made off with thousands of dollars worth of collectible game cards, including Pokémon cards.

In February 2021, the Tulsa Police Department received surveillance video from a game store that reported a break-in. The video showed Garrison breaking several display cases and stealing thousands of trading cards. Garrison cut himself in the break-in, and his DNA was linked to burglaries in several states.

In October of 2021, Garrison struck multiple stores in the St. Louis, Mo., region. The Crestwood Police Department, in a suburb of St. Louis, investigated one break-in where Garrison smashed glass with a hammer and left behind blood and fingerprints.

St. Louis County prosecutors told police they could not charge Garrison without DNA evidence, so Crestwood police detectives traveled to McPherson, Kansas, after Garrison was arrested for burglary there, to collect a DNA sample.

Garrison was also arrested in the Dallas area, where he tried to sell stolen cards, and in Illinois, where he pleaded guilty to burglary charges.

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In Oklahoma on June 24, U.S. District Judge Rodney W. Sippel sentenced Garrison to 27 months in prison for a second-degree burglary in Indian Country, followed by three years of supervised release. Garrison was also ordered to pay $298,771.90 in restitution.

Officials said Garrison is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, and will remain in custody pending transfer to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons.

TMX contributed to this report.