John-Michael Dooley, a 35-year-old father from Johns Island, South Carolina, was arrested after allegedly leaving his six-year-old daughter sleeping overnight outside a Target to hold his queue for a Pokémon Trading Card Game (TCG) extension release the following morning.
According to the Charleston Police Department in Johns Island, the incident happened on Friday, November 6 at a Target store in Johns Island's West Ashley area. A new extension of the Pokémon's Mega Evolution - Delta Reign trading card series was slated to launch, and collectors queued up overnight outside stores to purchase them.
A long queue had also formed outside the Target in West Ashley overnight on November 6, and John-Michael Dooley and his six-year-old daughter were also among them. Deputies received a complaint about an unattended child at the store around 2:30am ET.
Based on what police could reconstruct from witnesses, Dooley allegedly gave his six-year-old daughter a pillow and a blanket, made her sleep at the Target, and left the store at 1am ET. Other Pokémon enthusiasts at the store complained to the police after more than an hour passed and Dooley did not return.
{{/usCountry}}Based on what police could reconstruct from witnesses, Dooley allegedly gave his six-year-old daughter a pillow and a blanket, made her sleep at the Target, and left the store at 1am ET. Other Pokémon enthusiasts at the store complained to the police after more than an hour passed and Dooley did not return.
{{/usCountry}}The police placed the six-year-old under the protective custody of the South Carolina Department of Social Services.
Dooley eventually returned to the store and was identified as the girl's father by the witnesses. He admitted to the police that he left his daughter at the store so that she could keep his line when the cards dropped in the morning.
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Charleston Police Department said that John-Michael Dooley has been charged with one county of unlawful conduct towards a child. It is unclear if the six-year-old has been returned to the custody of her parents.
Dooley is currently lodged at the Ai Cannon Detention Center and his bond has been set at $40,000.
Pokémon Trading Card Game (TGC) is immensely popular, even after 30 years since it first launched in Japan. The game's website states that 10 billion Pokémon cards were printed by them between March 2025 and March 2026.