Latest news with #OrellanasFlores
Daily Mirror
08-07-2025
- Daily Mirror
Pokémon card sale ends in horror stabbing as 'line cutting' sparks huge brawl
A 49-year-old man is alleged to have attacked a Pokémon fan after allegedly cutting in line in a bid to be in with a chance to get his hands on some valuable cards A highly anticipated Pokémon card sale ended in a horror stabbing which left one man with life threatening injuries after the suspects allegedly cut in line, sparking a massive brawl. Pokémon fans lined up early outside a GameStop store in Colma, California, ahead of a highly-anticipated restock of the popular trading cards on Saturday. But after the suspects cut in line, anticipation turned to horror. One suspect, 49-year-old Miguel OrellanasFlores, from San Francisco, allegedly attempted to cut in line in order to buy one of the cards. Soon afterward, an argument ensued and erupted into a full-blown brawl, according to the Colma Police Department. Certain Pokémon cards have been estimated to be worth millions of pounds with scalpers and fans alike hoping to make money off more valuable ones. "Police officers responded to a report of a physical altercation involving multiple individuals at Game Stop, located at 4929 Junipero Serra Boulevard," a statement shared on the force's Facebook page of July 6 said. "Upon arrival, officers located one victim with lacerations to the head an multiple stab wounds. "Officers immediately began to render medical aid to the victim at the scene and he was transported to a local hospital with life threatening injuries. The victim is currently in a stable condition." Police said OrellanasFlores and another suspect, Isaiah Calles, 27, from San Francisco, were allegedly involved in the altercation and that both fled the scene in separate vehicles, a Honda and a Toyota, before officers arrived. The victim gave photos of the suspects' vehicles, including their licence plates, to police. The Honda was located by Colma Police Department officers in the area of Junipero Serra Boulevard and Serramonte Boulevard. Officers with the Daly City Police Department later located the Toyota at Gellert Park in Daly City and both suspects were arrested. "Officers later determined a verbal argument occurred between the victim and PrellansFlores after OrellanasFlores tried to cut in line to buy Pokémon cards. The argument turned physical when OrellanasFlores struck the victim in the back of the head with a glass mason jar. "The second male, Calles, then grabbed the broken shards of the glass of the mason jar and began to stab the victim multiple times. OrellanasFlores and Calles were arrested for assault with a deadly weapon, assault with a deadly weapon causing great bodily injury, battery with serious bodily injury and conspiracy to commit a crime. Both have been transported and booked at the San Mateo County Jail. The Mirror has contacted the Colma Police Department for comment.
New York Post
08-07-2025
- New York Post
Two Pokémon card fanatics arrested over stabbing in line at California GameStop
Two men were arrested and another was injured after the suspects allegedly cut the line at a Pokémon card sale in California, sparking an all-out brawl that ended in a brutal stabbing. Pokémon fans and scalpers lined up bright and early outside a GameStop in the town of Colma on Saturday for a highly anticipated restock of the franchise's coveted trading cards. 5 Two men were arrested after a brawl outside a GameStop over Pokémon cards. KRON All it took was one wrong step, and suddenly three men were fighting on the sidewalk. 5 The GameStop had restocked the trading cards that morning. Google maps One of the suspects, 49-year-old San Francisco resident Miguel OrellanasFlores, tried to cut the line to buy the Pokémon cards, the Colma Police Department said. The unidentified victim, who was wearing a black hoodie with the franchise's famed unofficial mascot Pikachu on the front, confronted him, as captured in a video obtained by KRON. 'I apologized and everything,' OrellanasFlores said while another man tried to push the victim away. 'Nah, get your hands off me,' the victim said. The victim lunged to try and reach OrellanasFlores before pivoting and smacking 27-year-old Isaiah Calles across the face. 5 Miguel OrellanasFlores allegedly tried to cut the line. KRON OrellanasFlores and Calles pounced on the victim and allegedly shoved him to the ground while frantic bystanders tried to intervene. 'There's kids watching!' one woman shouted as she set her belongings down and tried to pull them apart. All three men scrambled back to their feet, throwing blind punches until they collapsed in a pile on the ground. Somewhere in the mix, OrellanasFlores grabbed a mason jar and smashed it on the back of the victim's head, according to the CPD. Calles, meanwhile, reached for one of the shards and allegedly stabbed the victim multiple times. 5 The victim was hit on the back of the head with a mason jar, then stabbed repeatedly with a glass shard. KRON The two men fled the scene in separate vehicles, but the victim was somehow still aware enough to obtain photos of their cars — with the license plates included, police said. OrellanasFlores and Calles were both arrested and charged with assault with a deadly weapon, assault with a deadly weapon causing great bodily injury, battery with serious bodily injury and conspiracy to commit a crime, according to the CPD. Pokémon cards tend to sell for an hefty prices online, both because of the price gouging spurred by scalping and the high value of some 'special illustration rare' and 'hyper rare' cards. Matters in the trading card world have only been complicated by the worth placed on professional sports authenticator, or PSA, cards. 5 The two men fled the scene but were quickly caught after the victim turned over photos of their vehicles to police. KRON Cards rated a PSA 10 can be worth thousands of dollars, depending on the subject and rarity. Still, clinching a perfect card is rare and comes down to aspects outside of the collector's control, including how the card is printed and the logo's centering. The child-friendly gambling ploy drives some people to desperate measures. In late May, two hammer-wielding crooks nabbed thousands of dollars worth of the collectible cards in Detroit. The cards, locked in a display case, were rare ones that have been out of print for years. In January, a restock at a Los Angeles Costco turned violent as shoppers fought just to grab the cards off the shelves, still having to trek through the chaos to the cash register before they were home free.
Los Angeles Times
08-07-2025
- Los Angeles Times
Bay Area man stabbed after confrontation over Pokémon cards. Two suspects arrested
A Bay Area man was stabbed over the weekend after an altercation over a place in line at a retailer that was restocking Pokémon cards, authorities say. On Saturday morning, Colma, Calif., police responded to reports of a physical altercation between multiple individuals outside a GameStop store on Junipero Serra Boulevard, according to a news release. When officers arrived at the scene, they discovered a male victim with life-threatening head lacerations and stab wounds. He was immediately taken to a hospital, where he is in stable condition, the release said. The victim was not identified by police. Two men, Isaiah Calles, 27, and Miguel OrellanasFlores, 49, were later arrested on suspicion of attacking the victim after OrellanasFlores allegedly cut in line for customers waiting to buy Pokémon cards, police said. Police allege that OrellanasFlores struck the victim with a mason jar and Calles used the broken glass to stab the victim multiple times. The victim captured photos of the suspects' license plates before they fled in separate vehicles, which led to the arrests, police said. Footage obtained by KRON appears to show one suspect trying to keep the other suspect and the victim apart as they verbally confronted one another. One suspect pushed the victim back with his hand, which spurred a physical altercation that escalated with the two suspects piling on the victim. Altercations over Pokémon cards — which can net resellers thousands in profit — have been an issue for retailers before. Target temporarily stopped selling the cards in stores in 2021 after four men assaulted another in Wisconsin and another fight broke out over the cards at the Atwater Village Costco early this year. Although the Japanese trading card game is usually seen as a children's hobby, many resellers have reaped the benefits of selling to adult collectors who will shell out hundreds of thousands for particularly rare cards. Many hobbyists on online forums say the root cause of the increase in violence at stores and on the day of restocks or releases are 'scalpers' — individuals who buy up shelfloads of cards to resell them at a steep profit. 'Was only a matter of time,' a Reddit user said in reference to the Colma incident. 'Fights and scuffles (that haven't gone super viral on social media) have become increasingly common in recent months… Especially when money is involved and people become aggrieved at others 'taking' their income.' OrrelanasFlores and Calles were arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, battery with serious bodily injury and conspiracy to commit a crime, the release said. Both were booked into the San Mateo County Jail
