In one of the more infuriating instances of theft in the gaming world, Oklahoma police report that an unidentified man stole a Nintendo Switch from a Midwest City family -- more specifically, their six-year-old son, Caleb Kindle. The alleged theft goes from bad to worse considering the perpetrator nicked the versatile console while Caleb was undergoing a surgical procedure.

Sources state that the Kindles purchased Caleb the Nintendo Switch in order to help him recover from his surgery, which reportedly addressed and potentially corrected a congenital condition called "curly toes" that affects the tendons on the third, fourth, and fifth toes of one or both feet. On May 31, 2017, the procedure was performed on Caleb and he was likely looking forward to playing a few games afterward to soothe the pain. But when the Kindle family returned to their room at a La Quinta hotel in the Oklahoma metro area, they discovered that the Switch and other items -- $250 USD in cash, multiple credit cards, and a debit card -- were missing.

Reportedly, when the Kindles left their room before Caleb's surgery, their door didn't close all the way. Surveillance footage captured by the hotel's security cameras caught the thief in the act. Caleb's mother, Cassy, had this to say: "He notices that the door is open, so he goes down to the stairway for about two minutes. He stays in the stairway and notices that nobody's around and goes to our door again and he's looking around making sure nobody's in there, and that's when he walked in."

The burglar also allegedly attempted to use the swiped credit cards, but his purchases were, thankfully, declined. Officers and detectives at the Midwest City, Oklahoma Police Department have released stills of the suspected thief and are hoping that locals have information that can be used to track him down. In the meantime, Caleb is on the up-and-up after his procedure after spending three weeks wearing a post-surgical boot and is even enjoying gameplay -- perhaps some Breath of the Wild or Splatoon 2 -- on a brand new Nintendo Switch.

While the story does have a slightly happy ending, two realities dull the silver line. One is that the suspect is still out there, and the second is that theft of this kind has become more commonplace recently. In the past few months alone, news broke that an early shipment of Switch consoles were actually the result of theft of a distributor. The motivation to swipe a gaming system is likely foreign to most people, but the fact that Switch has reportedly been in limited availability since its launch in March and that it costs almost $300 USD may tempt people like this thief to utilize a five-finger discount to secure a console for themselves.

The Nintendo Switch is available now.

Source: Fox25 News