Updated

Updated · The Washington Post · Nov 8

South Carolina Police Arrest Father, 35, After Leaving 6-Year-Old in Target Line for Pokémon Cards

Updated

Updated · The Washington Post · Nov 8

South Carolina Police Arrest Father, 35, After Leaving 6-Year-Old in Target Line for Pokémon Cards

Q: What specific Pokémon release was so valuable that it drove a father to abandon basic parental instincts and risk his child's life?

The release was the new Pokémon Trading Card Game expansion **“Mega Evolution — Delta Reign.”** That identification comes from the additional reporting tied to the Charleston arrest, which says the overnight crowd at the West Ashley Target had gathered for that set’s Friday on-sale release. Police statements in the original case description referred more generally to a “new Pokémon trading card set,” but the follow-up coverage names the product specifically. As for value, the cards themselves were not described as individually rare or uniquely high-priced at retail. Reports note booster packs started at about **$5**, suggesting the frenzy was driven less by sticker price than by scarcity, collector demand and resale pressure that often surround major Pokémon TCG launches. In other words, it appears to have been a high-demand new-set drop, not a single confirmed ultra-valuable card release.

3 articles · Updated · The Washington Post · Nov 8

Charleston police arrested John-Michael Dooley, 35, after he returned to a Target where his 6-year-old daughter had been left asleep outside overnight.
Witnesses said Dooley gave the girl a pillow and blanket after 1 a.m. Friday, then went home to preserve his place in line for a newly released Pokémon card set.
Officers were called around 2:30 a.m. on reports of an unattended child; Dooley later admitted leaving her there, authorities said.
Dooley was charged with unlawful conduct toward a child, while the girl was unharmed and placed in emergency protective custody.