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.
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. 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. 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. It is unclear if the six-year-old has been returned to the custody of her parents.
The incident happened on Friday, November 6 at a Target store in Johns Island’s West Ashley area, according to the Charleston Police Department in Johns Island. 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.
Charleston Police Department said that John-Michael Dooley has been charged with one county of unlawful conduct towards a child.
