Pokémon bandits tunneled into a Los Angeles collectible shop and made off with nearly $200K in cards in a brazen burglary in Anaheim.

It happened in the early morning hours of Wednesday morning at DOWE Collectibles in the 1100 block of North Harbor Boulevard, the Anaheim Police Department told KTLA.

Investigators said suspects broke into one office and, using a sledgehammer, smashed through drywall and tunneled into the collectible card shop next door.

Security camera footage from CBSLA showed the suspects breaking into the shop through the wall before the masked thieves used sledgehammers to break display cases.

The burglars made their way through the shop, smashing cases and filling up giant black bags of $180,000 worth of the cards, police said.

The owner of the shop, Duy Pham, said when his phone alerted him to the break-in he could not believe what he was seeing.

“I clicked on the footage and saw guys coming through the hole,” Pham said. “My heart was pounding. I called 911 right away and rushed over here.”

The owner said the burglars didn’t bother with electronics and focused only on the collectable cards.

“They didn’t touch our computers or cameras,” Pham said. “They were here for the cards.”

KTLA’s video showed the damage in the wall and what the shop looked like after the break in. 

No arrests have been made, and police confirmed to KTLA that detectives are following up on leads in the case.

Police did not immediately return calls from The Post. This is only the latest example of thieves breaking into collectible stores for the specialty cards. 

In January, Merch-loving thieves stole a $300,000 set of Pokémon cards and other collectibles in two robberies in Los Angeles-including a brazen caught-on-camera heist using an electric saw, The Post reported.

The Anaheim shop owner said there’s been an increase in the value of the Pokémon cards and pointed out how some are worth thousands of dollars. 

“One card can be worth up to $10,000,” Pham told KTLA. “People see the money is there.”

He added, “We kind of expected something like this sooner or later. When you’re in this business, you feel like you have a target on your back.”

As California’s deadly drunk driving problem has exploded in recent years, with the state being home to six of the country’s 10 worst cities for DUIs, the Los Angeles police union is now placing the blame squarely at the feet of socialist politicians for slashing resources and soft on crime policies.

After three LAPD officers were hospitalized during a suspected DUI pursuit in the San Fernando Valley Saturday night, the police union released a fiery statement to The California Post, condemning lefty lawmakers.

“Driving while intoxicated is not a victimless crime and when Los Angeles politicians such as Councilmember Nithya Raman and Eunisses Hernandez repeatedly vote to cut police officers, stop enforcing DUI laws and end most other traffic enforcement, in the name of criminal justice reform, it only makes our streets less safe for every Angeleno,” the Board of Directors for the Los Angeles Police Protective League said in a statement.

And while the officers were lucky to be released from the hospital without any major injuries, some families aren’t so fortunate.

Jennifer Levi knows the pain of losing a love one all too well. Her 18-year-old son was killed by a suspected repeat drunk driver, and thanks to laws regarding non-violent crimes and good behavior, offenders can serve little jail time and find themselves quickly back behind the wheel — something she is afraid will happen in her case. 

“The safety of our roads is deteriorating to a point where everyday it feels like there’s a death from a drunk driver,” said Levi, who lost her son Braun back in May after he was struck and killed while walking home by Jenia Resha Belt, 33, who faces one count of murder.

The California Post has reached out to Raman and Hernandez’s offices for comment but did not hear back.

Now, Levi is one of several victims stepping up to push lawmakers to crack down on California’s lax drunk driving laws, including Democrat State Senator Bob Archuleta, whose eldest granddaughter died from a head-on crash with a drunk driver in 2024.

“You’re intoxicated and you cause great bodily injury to someone, that is considered a violent crime, but the killing of that person would not be a violent crime under current law,” a spokesperson for Archuleta said. 

But it’s not just drunk drivers who are are getting let off the hook, Allison Layman is fighting to revoke another soft law that went into effect in 2021. That law, Assembly Bill 3234, expanded the misdemeanor diversion program to include vehicular manslaughter after her 23-year-old son was killed by a drunk driver.

“What’s happened in the last five years, is judges are, I mean, almost handing it out like candy,” Lyman said of the program that allows offenders to receive less punishment than a speeding ticket in some cases.

Drunk driving continues to be a major problem across the state — with a DUI rate of 3.68 per 1,000 drivers, San Jose is second on the list for worst cities in America, followed by Sacramento, according to recent data from LendingTree. Fresno came in at fifth on the list with a DUI rate of 3.31, followed by Long Beach at seven, then Bakersfield, and Oakland.

Levi’s son, Braun, was one of those tragedies that happens too often in California.

“He was gonna go play tennis at the University of Virginia. He loved life, he was a great kid, he worked hard,” Levi said. “It’s completely devastating to us, and I couldn’t believe it happened to us and it’s just so sad that that our state is like this.”

Braun was a nationally recognized tennis player, who was killed just a week before his high school graduation. 

Just over 1,300 people were killed in an alcohol-involved crash in 2023, representing a more than 50% increase over the past decade, according to the California Office of Traffic Safety. Thousands more were injured, and more often than not, it’s a result from repeat offenders, according to a report from CalMatters. 

“What shocks me the most is how little time they serve in jail for killing somebody,” Levi told The California Post. “Right now, you are drunk and you injure someone, you will most likely spend more time in jail than if you kill somebody, because it’s called an accident. Braun’s death certificate says accident. That was not an accident.” 

While Levi’s case is still ongoing, there are even more recent examples of vehicular manslaughter that resulted in early release. Over the weekend, a California woman who killed a 21-year-old cyclist in her fourth distracted-driving crash was set to be released early on Valentine’s Day for good behavior. She began serving a nine-year prison term in 2023. 

“Because the way credits work, for good behavior and doing certain things while you’re incarcerated, non-violent felonies you can get up to 50% of your time taken off, while a violent felony you can only have 15% taken off,” a spokesperson for Archuleta told The Post. 

Archuleta introduced Senate Bill 907, which aims to strengthen California’s DUI enforcement and sentencing laws. 

The bill would target repeat offenders and add gross vehicular manslaughter and vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated to the violent felony list, ensuring those who killed someone while drunk driving serve more time than someone who injures a person. 

Another key provision of the bill is “Braun’s Law,” which mandates Watson Warnings in cases where the perpetrator pleas down from a DUI to a hit and run — following the warning, if a person kills someone while drinking and driving they face second degree murder charges. 

“The Watson Warning is not read consistently throughout California,” Levi said. “The woman who killed our son, she had a previous DUI but made a misdemeanor plea deal for a hit and run and was never read the Watson Warning.”

While the bill, which has bipartisan support, would be a major enhancement on the state’s drunk driving laws, it doesn’t address 2020’s Assembly Bill 3234, which expanded misdemeanor diversion programs to vehicular manslaughter — something Lyman has urged lawmakers to reform after her son Connor Lopez was killed by a distracted driver. 

Lyman, who lost her son last summer, said because of this diversion program, speeding tickets can come with more penalties than vehicular manslaughter. 

“We think it’s to empty the jails, that’s been kind of the consensus as we’ve spoken about it — is there was a big soft on crime push, and they didn’t want to pay to put people in jail,” Lyman told The Post.

An investigation by CalMatters found that because of the misdemeanor diversion program, some people charged with vehicular manslaughter were able to keep the case off their driving record. 

Lopez, a pianist, was killed in April in Elk Grove when a driver turned into oncoming traffic and hit him while riding his motorcycle.

“He died on the road, that driver never got out of her car,” Lyman said. “She sat there as others ran to cover his body.” 

The driver, Harjit Kaur, was charged with misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter. Connor’s family was told to brace themselves for the likely chance a misdemeanor diversion is granted. 

“We’re just anticipating at one of the hearings that will be part of her defense,” Lyman said. “It’s like the moment you find out about it, you start living that nightmare. It hasn’t even happened yet and you know, we’ve been told brace for it.”

Lyman is now trying to raise as much awareness as possible to revoke the eligibility of diversion programs for vehicular manslaughter convictions, even starting a petition that has garnered nearly 13,000 signatures to push lawmakers to act. 

California has a history of deadly roads, and a criminal justice system that Lyman said “it’s like the compassion goes toward the criminal and not the victim.”

And while no sentence or justice will ever bring their children back, Lyman and Levi are making it their mission to make the state’s roads safer for future generations.

“The woman who killed our son had a suspended license,” Levi said. “Our family will be disappointed and nothing will ever bring our son back and no sentencing or charge will ever feel like enough, but I feel so strongly about changing California for the future.” 

Barack Obama took a thinly-veiled jab at California Gov. Gavin Newsom over the homeless “atrocity” in Los Angeles Saturday.

During a conversation with YouTuber Brian Tyler Cohen, Obama explained: “We should recognize that the average person doesn’t want to have to navigate around a tent city in the middle of downtown.

”That’s a losing political strategy.”

“I think it is morally — ethically speaking — it is an atrocity that in a country this wealthy, we have people just on the streets, and we should insist on policies that recognize their full humanity — people who are houseless — and be able to provide them with the help and resources that they need.”

Download The California Post App, follow us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters

Meanwhile, at his State of the State address at the Capitol last month, Newsom celebrated a statewide drop in homelessness; however, Los Angelenos were not here for false hopes.

Business owners, residents, and local leaders said the governor’s claims of a 9% decline did not match the reality of widespread encampments and frequent public drug use.

Even inside the Capitol, lawmakers responded cautiously after Newsom’s victory lap.

California has spent more than $24 billion on homelessness programs during Newsom’s time as governor, with spending increasing each year.

In 2024, homelessness reached a record high across the state, with nearly 124,000 people unsheltered, according to federal data. Newsom did not share a statewide total for 2025, and updated federal census data is not yet available.

Angelenos were excited to see a taco cart in Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show from Villa’s Tacos in Highland Park. 

It’s a taqueria with three store locations across LA. Locals are proud of its success. 

But few trolleys make the transition from street vendor to brick-and-mortar stores. And our local government isn’t making it any easier.

LA County just announced that it will be purchasing new equipment to give away to street vendors — “free.”

The “free” carts will be paid for by the taxes of LA County businesses — including brick-and-mortar restaurants, which are often in direct competition with the vendors. 

Some argue: hey, that’s just capitalism. Any restaurant worth its salt should have no problem competing with a little hot-dog stand next door. 

The problem is, it isn’t the big restaurants vs. the little vendors. It’s the struggling restaurants facing government taxes and fees, on the one hand, versus the nimble vendors who can evade those regulations, on the other.

In California, businesses pay state income tax, sales tax, unemployment insurance, and disability tax. Those taxes are on top of federal income, sales, and unemployment taxes, not to mention Social Security and Medicare taxes.  

In some states, restaurants can deduct what servers make in tips from their taxes. Not in California — where if a restaurant puts a required tip on the bill for a larger party, the owner has to pay taxes on the tip that goes to the server.

The City of LA adds its own sales tax, bringing the state and local total to 9.75%. There is also a city business tax, based on a percentage of what the business makes. 

Moreover, if a business operates out of a facility owned by the city or county, the business pays a “possessory interest tax,” which is essentially a property tax on a property you don’t own. The restaurant also has to pay liability insurance for the government property.  

LA City also charges its businesses an extra occupancy tax. There is even an “unsecured property tax” on any equipment the business owns or operates on government property.

Restaurants in California also have to pay for licenses from the health department and the fire department. They pay extra for a license to serve alcoholic beverages, or soft serve ice cream. They even pay a disposal fee and a fee to be connected to the sewer line.

While restaurants slow-boil in taxes and fees, their street vendor competitors don’t pay rent, or extra taxes on any facilities. They are not required to have hot running water, or provide a bathroom. And now, instead of being charged an unsecured property tax on their equipment, they are getting their carts for free from LA County.

Vendors rarely have employees, or they pay them under the table, so they don’t pay unemployment insurance or worker’s comp, while licensed restaurants in California pay some of the highest minimum wages in the country. Restaurants operating out of government spaces pay an even higher living wage. 

Restaurants, like all businesses in California, also deal with some of the worst laws for business owners, leading to frequent and frivolous law suits. One law, for example, says that an employee can sue her employer if she does not feel sufficiently protected from sexual harassment by a customer.

LA restaurants have had it particularly hard in the last few years. They faced some of the most stringent COVID rules and lockdowns, while street vendors were largely left alone. The COVID lockdowns also accelerated the trend towards delivery — and delivery companies often charge the restaurants 20-30%. 

The Palisades and Altadena Fires displaced entire communities, and while street vendors can pick up and move to better locations without much cost, brick-and-mortar restaurants are left to struggle with sky-high rents and declining business in new locations.

My father opened his first hamburger stand in LA in 1977, after immigrating to the U.S., and within a few years, he had three more. 

Back then, it cost him roughly fifty thousand dollars to start a new business. Today, it costs a new restaurant twenty thousand dollars just to connect to the sewer line.  

According to my dad, the entire process of starting a new restaurant costs around half a million. 

The truth is that the state and county’s policies aren’t even helping immigrant street vendors. Many of them find themselves trapped in small operations with low profit margins, unable to start a real business and begin building generational wealth.

Nothing in this world is ever free. Well before the socialists “eat the rich”, they will eat the dreams of the little immigrants, and destroy LA’s amazing restaurant culture for all of us.

So while we’re all happy for Villa’s Tacos, the cart is more useful as a halftime prop than as a business policy.

Lisa Cusack is Chairwoman of the California Republican 44th Assembly District and comes from a family of restaurateurs.