Gotta catch ‘em all!
The alleged wheelman for a brazen armed crew who swiped more than $116,000 worth of rare Pokémon cards from a Meatpacking District shop last month was arrested on federal charges, The Post has learned.
Julio Caseres Colina, 27, was picked up Jan. 21 for allegedly driving three others to Poké Court in the Meatpacking District – where they smashed display cases and grabbed about $116,000 in trading cards on Jan. 14, according to a complaint filed in the Southern District of New York.
Caseres allegedly dropped the crew about 400 feet away from the West 13th Street store, which they raided while about 40 people packed inside for a decorating event, according to the court doc.
Some of the rare, stolen cars depicted the characters Treecko, Charizard, Pikachu, and Ho-Oh, according to images posted to the store’s Instagram story.
Caseres allegedly waited for the suspects for about 7 minutes before whizzing the thieves – who had also stolen $1,000 from the store’s register – away from the scene, the complaint said.
He even drove the masked crew to the same location the day before the large-scale heist to scope it out, law enforcement sources said.
Caseres was willing to chauffeur the gun-toting crew because they’d promised him “gifts” if they could “pack” their bags while riding in his van, the court doc said.
Caseres also allegedly served as the driver for the same crew on Jan. 9, when they stole Pokémon merchandise worth about $11,700 and around $1,000 cash from the register of a Queens shop on 39th Avenue near 65th Street Jan. 9, according to the complaint.
The day after that heist, one of the suspects allegedly gave Caseres about $100 for gas, as well as “various items” including batteries and women’s clothing that he sold for profit, prosecutors said.
He claimed he didn’t know what trio was doing when he left his van, but investigators viewed the statement as “an attempt to minimize his involvement in the robberies,” the complaint said.
Caseres — who has no prior arrests — was charged with Hobbs Act robbery conspiracy, and aiding and abetting Hobbs Act robbery, the feds said. His bail status was not immediately known.
No other arrests have been made in the card thefts.
Meanwhile, in an Instagram post days after the robbery, Poke Court staff thanked their supporters for “reaching out literally from the entire world.”
“The sheer amount [of] well wishes, donuts, bobas, and other kind gestures sent to us over the last day is staggering,” the post said. “Everyone is physically safe and that is above everything, the most important thing.
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