VIDEO: Smash and Grab at Las Vegas Area Sports Card Shop
Just a couple of days after a million dollar burglary in Los Angeles and another break-in in Utah, a Las Vegas area sports card shop was burglarized over the weekend.
Someone broke into Gameday Sports Cards in Henderson, NV around 1:30 AM Sunday and stole a variety of modern sports cards, vintage unopened packs and even boxes of cards that were set to be shipped to customers of the store’s online breaks.
Surveillance video and audio captured a suspect wearing a purple colored hooded sweatshirt and baseball cap attempting to get into one of the store’s display cases. After finding the case locked, the person grabbed a fire extinguisher and smashed the glass, filling up a bag with the contents of the case.
Jimmy Guerino, one of the shop’s owners, told SC Daily Monday that suspect is believed to have broken in through the back of the shop and is believed to have accomplices who were waiting outside in a getaway car. The shop’s lights turned on through a motion sensor as the thief entered the main part of the store.
Guerino began conducting online breaks in 2016 and opened the shop just five months ago.
“I’ve been collecting for 20 years and you think your dream is coming true and then this happens,” he told SC Daily on Monday. “It’s definitely discouraging for sure.”
The person in the video is believed to have used trash bags from the back of the shop to haul away about 100 boxes of new trading card products, the items from the smashed display case and packages headed for customers.
The Henderson Police Department is investigating. The quality of the surveillance video along with additional security footage and other clues should be helpful.
“The detectives are fairly confident they can figure it out,” Guerino said.
About 270 miles separate Los Angeles from Henderson, but the burglary at Gameday and the one at The Bullpen in L.A. late last week appear to be separate incidents. The thieves who stole from the Southern California shop targeted primarily high-end cases and other unopened boxes that totaled more than $1 million in retail value.
“They don’t think there’s any connection,” Guerino said. “The guy who came into our shop, it seemed as if he didn’t know much about sports cards due to the stuff that he was taking.”
Nevertheless, Guerino has been forced to contact the customers who had packages of cards they’d won in box breaks that were stolen and at least one Las Vegas area collector who had consigned packs of 1972 Topps Series 2 Baseball (PSA 7-Serial # 19778751) and 1954 Bowman Football (PSA 7- #19778761), along with several several thousand dollars worth of primarily modern star and rookie cards.
Guerino was still going through his inventory Monday afternoon to determine exactly what else may have been taken or the total value.
