Webster police chase ends after Pokémon card store burglary

Webster police arrested Nara Ouch and Ray Stidham after a burglary at Cantu Collectibles in Webster triggered a 31-mile chase that ended near Houston’s Galleria area. The break-in happened around 2:30 a.m. Tuesday, July 8, at the store along State Highway 3, where owner Ramon Cantu said he woke up to people entering the shop and taking merchandise.

Surveillance video showed two men using a crowbar to smash the front glass door before rushing inside and going straight for the most valuable Pokémon products. Cantu said the suspects were inside for only about two minutes, but in that time they took about $8,000 to nearly $9,000 in cards and sealed items that collectors prize. Audio from the burglary captured the suspects asking, “Where’s the slabs?” as they searched for graded cards.

The suspects drove off, and when an officer tried to stop them, the burglary turned into a chase that crossed multiple jurisdictions before ending in southwest Houston. Ouch was charged with burglary of a building and evading arrest in a motor vehicle. Stidham was charged with burglary of a building.

Court records in the case show Ouch has prior felony forgery convictions, while Stidham is on parole out of Kentucky. Cantu said officers later recovered all of the stolen merchandise and returned the Pokémon cards.

The Harris County Sheriff’s Office is investigating at least two other high-end Pokémon store thefts, and nothing in the public record currently links the Webster defendants to those other card-shop burglaries.

At REV Collectibles in Cypress, the owner estimated losses at $10,000 to $15,000 in one break-in and about $30,000 across two break-ins.