We all know that Nintendo's portable gaming hardware is pretty desirable, thanks to the countless number of amazing games available for platforms like the Game Boy, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS and Nintendo 3DS. However, would you risk a prison term just to get your grubby hands on some sweet Ninty action?

43-year-old Dave A. Schmotter obviously thought so, as he not only stole more than $1,000 of Nintendo gear from a minor, but did it while in hospital - a hospital where the victim and his mother were visiting him to drop off a tasty McDonald's meal. That's pretty much like a Home Run of unpleasantness.

The incident took place on November 17th last year while Schmotter was a patient at Bethesda Hospital in St. Paul, Minnesota. According to police, he waited for the mother and her son to become distracted then concealed the 8-year-old's black bag - which contained two Nintendo DS systems and between 30 to 40 games - by hanging it on his IV stand and covering it with a shirt. Unfortunately for Schmotter, both the mother and her son noticed the bag was missing and alerted the police. Schmotter's actions were captured on CCTV.

Schmotter has a criminal past that includes convictions for drugs, burglary and receiving stolen property. It would appear that the boy's mother is aware of Schmotter's shady history:

Dave steals anything he can get his hands on. This is really low.

Thankfully, the items were recovered and returned to their rightful owner. Schmotter is being charged in Ramsey County District Court with one count of theft.

Image credit: WikiHow