Gen Con Heist: charges filed against New York men in theft of gaming cards
The Marion County Prosecutor’s Office announced charges were filed Tuesday against two New York men accused of using a pallet jack to make off with 115 boxes of gaming cards valued at more than $195,000 during Gen Con last month in downtown Indianapolis.
Thomas Dunbar, 40, and Andrew Giaume, 41, have each been charged with felony theft, Level 5, for their alleged role in the Gen Con heist after a roughly month-long investigation by the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, who worked in conjunction with New York State Police and the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office.
The cards, estimated originally to be worth more than $260,000, were recovered in New York City on Aug. 25, according to IMPD.
"During the course of the investigation, the stolen merchandise was located and recovered as evidence," said Prosecutor Ryan Mears in a Tuesday news release. "The filing of charges today ensures that there are criminal consequences for this conduct.”
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Detectives began their investigation Aug. 2 after learning that thousands of dollars in merchandise owned by Pastime Inc., a Midwest-based gaming and events company, had been stolen from their assigned convention booth at Gen Con, billed as the world's largest gaming convention.
Detectives reviewed security videos provided by the Indiana Convention Center showing two men, identified by police as Dunbar and Giaume, using a pallet jack at the exhibit hall to move plastic-wrapped cardboard boxes containing gaming cards to behind a black curtain, according to a probable cause affidavit for their arrest.
Vendors setting up for Gen Con didn't recognize them, investigators said. A witness later told IMPD detectives he saw one of the men, identified as Dunbar, try to enter a locked door of another booth on the convention floor, the affidavit states. He snapped a picture and provided it to police when he learned Dunbar was wanted for questioning.
In video surveillance stills, Dunbar and Giaume can be seen pulling a red handcart stacked with what appear to be the same cardboard boxes devoid of their plastic wrapping. Video showed the pair hauling the boxes through the convention corridors and onto the sky walk connecting the Indiana Convention Center to a local hotel and the State Parking Garage, the affidavit states.
At 4:26 p.m. Aug. 1, a red Nissan Murano with a New York license plate was captured on video exiting the parking garage headed toward Plainfield, Indiana. Detectives learned the Nissan was a rental vehicle from the Indianapolis International Airport signed out by Dunbar.
Following up on a news tip, detectives searched online and discovered Dunbar and Giaume were credited as co-designers of a tabletop board game. The pair were interviewed in videos posted to YouTube in 2015, which allowed investigators to match their physical descriptions to surveillance footage.
Dunbar, investigators said, appeared to be wearing a T-shirt advertising his board game in security footage captured on the day of the heist.
Police say suspects changed their contact information online after receiving Gen Con badges
Further investigation revealed that a person, later identified as Giaume, purchased four-day Gen Con 2023 tickets for both himself and Dunbar through their board game company months in advance of the convention, an affidavit states.
Gen Con officials told police that Dunbar and Giaume altered their registration information online, changing their names to "Scott Fischer" and "Ashriel Lockheart" after their convention badges were issued.
Neither Dunbar nor Giaume were listed as Gen Con vendors that year and had no business being inside the Indiana Convention Center on Aug. 1 before it opened to the public, officials said. They hadn't been listed as convention vendors since 2016.
Detectives learned both men lived in New York City, which was further confirmed by reservations Dunbar made when checking into a downtown Indianapolis hotel in early August, according to an affidavit.
On Aug. 8, detectives received an unsolicited call from an attorney in New York saying they were representing "an unnamed client in possession of the stolen gaming cards belonging to Pastimes, Inc."
The attorney said his client was coerced into purchasing a pallet of merchandise by someone calling themselves "Jeff" at a price of $4,000, the affidavit states. They were unaware of the merchandise's value or origin until after seeing a story about the theft online.
With help from New York State Police, troopers arrived at the attorney's office and collected 115 boxes and packages containing "Magic: the Gathering" and "Dungeon & Dragons" gaming cards and books investigators said were taken from the Indiana Convention Center.
A detailed list of the items provided by Pastimes, Inc. valued the stolen products at $195,652 and their replacement cost at more than $157,000.
IndyStar was unable to reach attorneys representing Dunbar and Giaume before this article's publication. Both men have hearings scheduled for Wednesday.
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John Tufts covers evening breaking and trending news for the Indianapolis Star. Send him a news tip at JTufts@Gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indianapolis Gen Con Heist: charges filed in theft of gaming cards
