A college-aged suspect stole $730 in Yu-Gi-Oh! memorabilia from a 13-year-old male visiting the university Saturday for a trading card tournament, University Police said.
In what police described as a “strong-arm robbery,” the victim was lying against his trading card binder when the 18-year-old male suspect hit it out of the victim’s hand, grabbed it and fled the scene.
The victim chased the suspect to Union Lane, but the suspect pushed him to the ground and drove off with two accomplices in an early-model green Ford Thunderbird with Maryland tags.
Laurel Chiat, owner of Dream Wizards in Rockville, which sponsored the tournament, said two students caught the license plate number and turned it over to police.
University Police Spokesman Paul Dillon said he could not comment on an ongoing investigation.
Yu-Gi-Oh! is a game where players use trading cards to defeat each other in fantasy-style battles. Images on the cards are drawn in the style of Japanese Animé.
Students didn’t receive the crime alert until yesterday, as it took police two days to determine the incident was a robbery, not a theft, because the victim was pushed by the suspect.
Chiat said this is the first time a robbery has happened at one of her competitions. She holds eight a year and plans to increase security for future tournaments by registering spectators and preventing free movement in and out of events.
But she added the robbery wouldn’t stop Dream Wizards from hosting the tournament on the campus.
“It’s not that it’s a bad location,” said Chiat. “It’s a nice thing … to bring kids to a college campus.”
Chiat said she’ll speak to participants before the next event to make sure they’re aware of people “who want to ruin it for everyone.”
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