A 77-year-old volunteer teacher has been arrested following an altercation with a student under the age of 10 over Pokémon cards. The incident took place on August 31, 2026, at Jerry Lee Faine Elementary School in Dothan, Alabama.
According to a statement from Dothan Police Chief William E. Benny, school resource officers responded to reports of the dispute. Video footage from surveillance cameras at the school reportedly shows the volunteer teacher, identified as Oscar Truitt Jr., striking the child several times. Truitt was subsequently charged with harassment and booked into the Dothan City Jail.
The Dothan Police Department emphasized that student safety is their top priority. Details regarding the specific Pokémon cards involved and the student's condition have not been publicly disclosed.
This event highlights a recent trend of incidents involving valuable or sought-after Pokémon cards. In other recent cases, collectors have faced theft and fraud, with one instance involving a collector who organized a sting operation to recover cards worth $4,000 lost to counterfeit currency. In May, a Florida man was arrested for burglary and theft totaling over $10,000 from a card shop, allegedly using a chainsaw.
The intense demand for Pokémon cards has led to significant measures in Japan, where some Pokémon stores are implementing systems like facial recognition and customer quizzes to combat scalping and ensure products reach genuine fans.