Not all stories of stolen cards and memorabilia end well, but in Canada, one hobby shop is getting some of its stolen stuff back—and so will a collector who lost a big collection of Wayne Gretzky memorabilia to a thief.
Earlier this month, Luke Crisby, owner of The Hobby Stop in the Edmonton metro area, watched security video of a burglar swiping some high dollar hockey cards and unopened boxes.
The theft resulted in a loss of tens of thousands of dollars. .
Police say that burglar tried to sell one of the stolen cards to another shop in Edmonton– a Gretzky booklet autograph numbered to 12.
Word was already on the street, though and it has led to an arrest according this story David Ewasuk of CTV News, who talked with the shop owner.
Police recovered a semi-automatic rifle, drugs and other stolen items from the home of 32-year-old Justin Jarrod Charest of Edmonton who is facing a long list of charges and was due in court next week.
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Meanwhile, Royal Canadian Mounted Police say they’ve arrested a suspect and located about $100,000 worth of Gretzky items, including numerous autographs and photos that belonged to Aron Gratias of Saskatchewan.
Gratias pleaded for help last April after discovering someone had broken into the unit where he’d temporarily stored the items.
Last week, RCMP executed a search warrant at a home in Shellbrook and recovered a large quantity of the hockey memorabilia as well as other items previously and separately reported stolen to police including a snowmobile, trailer and pick-up truck. Some of the memorabilia remains missing.
“We began investigating this theft nearly a year ago and given the prevalence of online ‘buy and sell’ sales, we didn’t know for sure if any of the stolen memorabilia items would be recovered,” shares S/Sgt. Shannon Haggarty, Shellbrook/Ahtahkakoop RCMP Detachment Commander. “This is an excellent example of how investigations take time to complete. It was continued, dedicated efforts on the part of RCMP investigators that resulted in charges laid and ultimately, items recovered from multiple different theft investigations.”
RCMP say 41-year-old Derek Herzog has been charged with Possession of stolen property obtained by crime over $5,000. He’s due in court April 4 and the investigation is continuing.
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