A South Carolina man was arrested after leaving his 6-year-old daughter behind in a line for a Pokemon Trading Card Game product release at a local retailer, leaving her with a pillow and a blanket while he went home. An hour after the man left his daughter alone in the Pokemon launch line, police were called in by other line goers to investigate the situation.
Throughout the decade, Pokemon TCG product launches have been targeted by scalpers looking to buy up as many packs as possible and sell them at marked-up values on third-party storefronts. This has left customers looking to just buy Pokemon card packs for themselves out of luck. In response, some retailers have taken drastic measures to fight back against scalping, with stores such as Target unsealing Pokemon TCG Elite Trainer Box kits as a way to tank the resale value and make them unattractive to scalpers.
South Carolina Father Arrested for Leaving Daughter Alone in Pokemon TCG Launch Line
While Pokemon TCG card launches still attract customers in droves, one man took a drastic measure that saw police get involved. According to reports from Charleston television stations WCSC and WCBD, 35-year-old John-Michael Dooley of Johns Island, South Carolina, was arrested and charged with one felony count of unlawful conduct toward a child after he allegedly left his 6-year-old daughter in a line for Pokemon cards at a Target store in Charleston’s West Ashley neighborhood. While waiting in line for a new Pokemon TCG product launch, witnesses told Charleston police officers that Dooley arrived in line with his daughter after 1:00 AM Eastern on Friday, November 6. Dooley then went home and left his daughter in line with a blanket and a pillow for her to sleep.
Police were then called in over an hour later, at 2:30 AM Eastern, when other customers noticed Dooley had not returned. When Dooley arrived back at the store line, witnesses pointed him out to officers, who then took him into custody. As for Dooley’s daughter, police stated that she was unharmed and placed in the protective care of the South Carolina Department of Social Services. In an interview with officers, Dooley subsequently admitted that he placed his daughter in the line to hold his spot out of fear that he could not purchase Pokemon cards otherwise. He faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted.
This is not the first time that Pokemon TCG buyers have utilized extreme methods to secure some card packs. In September 2026, a Pokemon card collector from Ohio was arrested and pleaded no contest after he was accused of placing an illegal GPS tracking device inside the vehicle of a Walmart restock vendor as a way to track local card shipments. As part of the no contest plea, the Ohio man was ordered by a judge to pay $500 and cover all associated court costs, with no further penalties enacted on them.
Though Nintendo and The Pokemon Company have teamed up to combat scalping, that has not stopped fans from lining up at stores across the globe during a product launch. Time will tell what other steps Pokemon and retailers will take to meet growing demand and deter scalpers.
