Man Gets Caught on Camera Stealing Neighbor’s Nintendo Switch

With Nintendo Switches still in short supply, one man decided to take matters into his own hands to play Animal Crossing. Christian of Elyria, Ohio allegedly broke into his neighbors home and took off with their Switch.

According to the police report from the Elyria police department, at around 4:30PM on July 27, the police showed up to the neighborhood where the supposed “Switchening’ took place. Christian allegedly had used a shovel and framing square to pry the neighbor’s rear sliding door open, granting him access to the home, and subsequently the Switch. The neighbor who had their property stolen said that along with the Nintendo console, the thief also took a $10 bill from his kitchen table.

Apparently, the victim had installed cameras on their property after also being previously robbed on July 22, with the robber that time taking $120 (the robber entered through the same sliding glass doors this time as well).

When the police arrived to the scene, the victim apparently told them that he believed the thief to be none other than his next door neighbor. After officers went next door to question the neighbor, Christian denied taking the $10 from his neighbors dinner table, but confessed to taking the Nintendo Switch.

After being asked more questions, Christian allegedly then also admitted to breaking into the home on three separate occasions.

From what we know as of now, Christian has subsequently been charged with burglary (a second degree felony). Mario would definitely not approve.

With such massive shortages of the Switch over the last few months, this isn’t the first case of the Nintendo console to go missing and it likely won’t be the last. With the current health crisis adding to this mix, the Nintendo Switch is quite hard to come by and selling a Switch online could lead to a quick yet hefty sum of money.

Scalpers on sites like Ebay have been selling the system at heavily inflated prices, taking full advantage of the stock shortages that Nintendo has seen. Nintendo did come forward and issue a statement regarding the shortage as well as the inflated prices the system is being sold at during their 80th Annual General Meeting of Shareholders.

Furukawa stated the following: “We would like to once again express our apologies for the inconveniences experienced by many consumers due to the shortages and reselling of Nintendo Switch consoles. Reselling is generally permitted under the current laws, so we are limited in the measures we can take as a company. We want to deliver Nintendo Switch consonles to as many consumers as possible, so we believe that the most important measure we can currently take is to steadily increase the production and shipping of Nintendo Switch consoles.”

Nintendo is well aware of the shortages and are likely just as frustrated by the lack of Nintendo Switches available to be sold as is the general public. Based on the reply by Furukawa, they also seem to be well aware of resellers and the heavily inflated prices that the Switch is being sold at. Unfortunately, there really isn’t much that Nintendo can do about this because as Furukawa stated, this isn’t illegal activity.

If you’re still out of luck and can’t seem to get your hands on a Switch, please don’t go robbing your neighbors. Availability will soon return back to normal and if you’re patient, you will be able to play Animal Crossing: New Horizons felony free.