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Dad arrested for allegedly using his 6-year-old to save place in line for Pokémon cards while he went  home

Read the original at The Independent ↗
Cite

Dobkin, R. (2026, November 9). Dad arrested for allegedly using his 6-year-old to save place in line for Pokémon cards while he went home. The Independent. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/crime/pokemon-cards-dad-arrested-south-carolina-b3081957.html

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

The Independent · collected 2026-11-09 · by Rachel Dobkin

Quick Summary

John-Michael Dooley, a 35-year-old father from Johns Island, South Carolina, was arrested for allegedly leaving his six-year-old daughter unattended to secure her place in line for new Pokémon trading cards at a Target store early Friday morning. Witnesses say Dooley left his sleeping child with a pillow and blanket around 1 AM while he went home. After an hour without the father's return, concerned customers called police who later arrested him upon his return. The incident led to charges of unlawful conduct toward a child; Dooley was released from custody but his daughter was placed into emergency protective custody by social services.
Written by AI on 2026-11-10, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

On November 6, 2026, John-Michael Dooley, a 35-year-old father from Charleston, South Carolina, was arrested after leaving his six-year-old daughter unattended outside Target overnight for a Pokémon trading card release. Around 1:00 am, Dooley allegedly gave his daughter a pillow and blanket before driving home to maintain his place in line. Witnesses alerted police when he did not return within an hour. When Dooley came back at around 2:30 am, he was identified by witnesses and arrested. During questioning, he admitted leaving his daughter so he would not miss the opportunity to purchase the cards. Additionally, a report obtained by 404 Media indicated that Dooley had asked his daughter if she "had the gun" before departing, raising concerns about child safety and parental responsibility.

Written for “Dad Arrested for Leaving Daughter” on 2026-11-10, grounded in this article and the 3 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
This article does not take a side on a contested political question, so it has no leaning score. That is an answer rather than a gap: a match report or a rescue can be warmly or critically written without being left or right, and scoring it anyway is how approval of a subject gets recorded as a political position.
No political leaning scored for article 139273 · logged 2026-11-10

Story

Dad Arrested for Leaving Daughter
Crime & Law · 4 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 31% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
South Carolina dad arrested for leaving 6-year-old in line for Pokémon cards Same event
Global News
Hedges 6 of 18 claims Outlet record 63/100
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
13
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
31%
4 of 13 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
59/100
The Independent's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
4
Crime & Law
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-11-10 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

The Independent · 4031 article(s) · 10 correction(s) detected
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Who wrote this

Rachel Dobkin
129 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
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The father allegedly admitted to investigators that he had returned home, leaving his daughter, so he could keep his place in line and avoid missing out on buying the new cards.
2026-11-09 · mixed framing · Dad arrested for allegedly using his 6-year-old to save place in line for Pokémon cards while he went  home
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Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 129 articles by Rachel Dobkin →

Topics

ABC News Charleston South Carolina Target West Ashley

Subjects

Dooley PERSON · 3× ABC News ORG · 2× Target ORG · 2× Charleston GPE · 1× Charleston Police ORG · 1× John-Michael Dooley PERSON · 1× Johns Island GPE · 1× South Carolina GPE · 1× West Ashley GPE · 1× the South Carolina Department of Social Services ORG · 1×

Narrative

A Target spokesperson told ABC News that the store was closed during the incident and that the retailer would cooperate with police in its investigation.
framing: mixed · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-11-10
The father allegedly admitted to investigators that he had returned home, leaving his daughter, so he could keep his place in line and avoid missing out on buying the new cards.
2026-11-10 · The Independent
Dad arrested for allegedly using his 6-year-old to save place in line for Pokémon cards while he went  home · mixed framing

Claims (13 extracted, 4 hedged)

A South Carolina father has been arrested for ditching his 6-year-old daughter so she’d save his place in line for Pokémon trading cards, according to police. uncertain
she → arrest → police
Pokémon cards are making a resurgence, with people on social media making videos of ripping packs open in the hope of finding a rare one. asserted
people → make → one
But one dad has taken the online trend too far, allegedly making his daughter stand with strangers in his hunt for new cards. uncertain
daughter → take → cards
At around 2:30 a.m. ET on Friday, Charleston police officers went to a Target in the West Ashley district after getting a report of an unattended child. asserted
officers → go → child
The child had been waiting in line with her father, 35-year-old John-Michael Dooley from Johns Island, as customers camped outside the store to get their hands on a new Pokémon card set, according to the cops. uncertain
customers → wait → cops
Sometime after 1 a.m., Dooley gave his daughter a pillow and blanket and then left her asleep in line, witnesses say. asserted
witnesses → give → line
Other customers started to get concerned, and after an hour passed without the dad showing back up, they called the police. asserted
they → start → police
When Dooley eventually returned, witnesses identified him to the officers, and he was arrested. asserted
he → return → officers
The father allegedly admitted to investigators that he had returned home, leaving his daughter, so he could keep his place in line and avoid missing out on buying the new cards. uncertain
he → admit → cards
Dooley has been charged with unlawful conduct toward a child. asserted
Dooley → charge → child
He has since been released from custody, a Charleston Police spokesperson told ABC News. asserted
spokesperson → release → News
His daughter was unharmed and placed into emergency protective custody with the South Carolina Department of Social Services. asserted
daughter → place → Services
A Target spokesperson told ABC News that the store was closed during the incident and that the retailer would cooperate with police in its investigation. asserted
retailer → tell → investigation
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