Felony Theft Charges Filed Against Thieves of Gen Con Magic: The Gathering Cards

Photo: Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The San Francisco Chronicle by means of Getty Images

Nicole Carpenter
is an elderly press reporter focusing on investigatory functions concerning labor concerns in the game sector, in addition to business and also society of games.

Two males that purportedly stole $300,000 worth of Magic: The Gathering cards from a Indiana merchant establishing at tabletop convention Gen Con have actually been billed with felony burglary, according to the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office.

Thomas Dunbar and also Andrew Giaume, that developed a game called Castle Assault, have actually been billed with felony burglary for their components in the claimed burglary of the Magic: The Gathering Cards from merchant and also event coordinator Pastimes Comics & Games. Should Dunbar and also Giaume be condemned, they deal with one to 6 years behind bars and also as much as a $10,000 penalty. The Marion County district attorney’s workplace stated the costs followed an examination the covered both Indiana and also New York, where Dunbar and also Giaume stay.

“During the course of the investigation, the stolen merchandise was located and recovered as evidence,” Marion County district attorney Ryan Mears stated in a declaration released to Polygon. “The filing of charges today ensures that there are criminal consequences for this conduct.”

An sworn statement given to Polygon information the burglary and also succeeding examination. On Aug. 2, Pastimes Games supervisor John Temple reported the cards as swiped from his business’s marked area on the Gen Con reveal flooring. Days later on, authorities got safety video that revealed the claimed burglary, which included 2 white males matching Dunbar and also Giaume’s summaries making use of a pallet jack to move a pallet packed with boxes covered in plastic. Once the males got rid of the pallet of cards from the Pastimes cubicle, it’s affirmed that they after that concealed it under a drape. Later, the males showed up once again this time around with a “red hand cart” packed with Magic: The Gathering card boxes, unwrapped from the plastic formerly fastening them to the pallet.

Security video revealed both males, whom additionally matched Dunbar and also Giaume’s summaries, relocating the cards from the Indiana Convention Center, via a resort, and also right into the parking lot, where they probably packed packages right into an automobile. Security video after that revealed the males leaving the garage with a vacant cart. The sworn statement also consists of a picture of the auto the males left in, a 2023 Nissan Murano, driving in Indiana with the cardboard boxes noticeable in the trunk of the auto. Ultimately, authorities had the ability to link that rented out auto to Dunbar.

The set had the ability to be linked to Gen Con due to the fact that they had actually both initially signed up badges in their names. The sworn statement states the names were altered to Scott Fischer and also Ashriel Lockheart at some time in between Aug. 1 and also Aug. 5.

Image: Marion County Prosecutor’s Office

Video proof isn’t the only product pointed out in the sworn statement. Somewhere prior to Dunbar and also Giaume left Indiana for New York, both purportedly tried to get in the shared by Asmodee and also Atomic Mass Games, that make Marvel and also Star Wars table top games to name a few. An individual acquired to function that cubicle thought both was attempting to barge in, and also broke a picture prior to they left. When authorities went public with the picture, that specialist acknowledged Dunbar.

A New York lawyer later on got in touch with authorities, claiming he stood for an individual that was “coerced” right into getting the pallet of Magic: The Gathering cards for $4,000. The individual didn’t understand the well worth, the lawyer stated, up until they got home and also saw the Gen Con break-in tale on the information. On Aug. 25, New York state authorities mosted likely to that lawyer’s workplace, where they located 115 boxes of Magic: The Gathering trading cards and also Dungeons & Dragons publications, according to the sworn statement. Police are holding the product as proof.

Polygon has actually connected to Pastimes Games for remark.

 

Source: Polygon