Pokémon cards theft leads to drug bust in Arizona involving baby

YAVAPAI COUNTY, Ariz. - The alleged theft of hundreds of dollars worth of Pokémon cards led to the arrests of a man and woman who had drugs in the backseat next to a baby, authorities say.

The Prescott Valley Police Department said on April 19, officers responded to reports of a shoplifting at a business. 

"The business reported they had been observing two persons since September 2022 who were suspected of stealing various items on eight different occasions," police said.

The man and woman, 26-year-old Tyler Moore and 25-year-old Brittany Bender, are said to have stolen consumable goods, baseball cards, football cards, among other items.

Pok?mon card theft leads to drug bust in Arizona involving baby

The alleged theft of hundreds of dollars worth of Pok?mon cards led to the arrests of a man and woman who had drugs in the backseat next to a baby, Prescott Valley authorities say.

April 19 is when the store's loss prevention team says Moore stole nearly $500 worth of Pokémon cards.

"Just after midnight on April 22, a vehicle pulled into the suspect’s driveway. The officer found both Tyler Moore and Brittany Bender in the vehicle and Brittany’s 7-month-old baby asleep in a car seat in the back seat," police said.

Moore and Bender reportedly have a history of illegal drug possession and when police spoke with them, they gave inconsistent stories.

A K-9 officer searched their car and reportedly found more than a pound of marijuana, bags of cocaine, 20 chocolate bars with psilocybin, and a gun.

"The chocolate psilocybin bars were in boxes next to the 7-month-old baby in the back seat," police detailed.

Moore and Bender are accused of possession of dangerous drugs, possession of narcotics, possession of a weapon in a drug offense and endangerment.