Thief steals thousands of dollars worth of rare Japanese anime figurines from Madison Heights store

MADISON HEIGHTS, Mich. (FOX 2) - A thief used a crowbar to break into a Madison Heights store and steal thousands of dollars worth of rare Japanese anime figurines Thursday morning.

Dressed in all black and armed with a crowbar and bag, the thief broke into Otaku Detroit on 11 Mile Road. They left with a bag full of figurines and went back inside for the cash register.

Otaku Detroit

Matt Lapoint said his store had $7,000 worth of rare figurines.

"It's not like they stole things that i can run out and order from a distributor," he said. "They took everything that was collectible and hard to find."

Lapoint said the thief has to be someone who knows the niche hobby. He said he has several friends who own pawn shops in the area, so he has asked them to keep an eye out for the stolen items.

He said his store just celebrated its one-year anniversary after opening during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"So we are still day to day with our finances," he said. "I don’t know what I’m going to do."

Lapoint said that if he is able to reopen, he will be adding a security system, cameras, and possibly bars to the windows to prevent future thefts.