Police are looking for a group of thieves who broke into a Chicago hobby store through an AC window. They got away with Pokémon and sports trading cards among other things worth tens of thousands of dollars, according to the owner of Bridgeport Hobby.
The owner told NBC Chicago the thieves moved fast. They were in and out in less than three minutes, climbing over a locked gate in the back and busting through the air conditioning unit. One of them squeezed through the small window and opened the back door to let the others in.
The alarms went off in the middle of the night at Bridgeport Hobby on Aug. 11. People wearing masks could be seen on surveillance video ransacking the card store near 35th and Halsted and stealing $50,000 worth of inventory.
“They took all of our Pokémon section, completely wiped it,” said owner Rob O’Brien. “This is Pokémon, and this is all Pokémon as well, and it’s all Chicago-based sports.”
O’Brien is still processing the stolen inventory, including laptops and sports memorabilia, and said he won’t keep expensive cards in the store after hours anymore.
He opened his store six years ago and grew up in Chicago’s Bridgeport neighborhood. He said what started as a hobby has turned into a form of modern art for collectors.
“My love and passion came from this,” he said. “I know there’s people of all ages, it’s sentimental value; there’s things that bring you back to a moment.”
As he works to restock, O’Brien is warning other card shops to be on high alert, saying he took all the necessary security measures but they still managed to get in.
“Windows have bars on them, windows are bolted, high security surveillance, pull-down lock shutter,”” he said. “Like an AC unit, this is the last place I would ever thought.”
The thieves took off in an alley after the heist just before 3:30 a.m. The owner believes they’re teenagers.
“It’s definitely violating,” he said. “It’s sad, it breaks my heart that people would do such terrible things. We do so much for this hobby, do so much for the kids.”
The owner is raising money to pay for upgraded security. He’s looking to add steel doors and hire armed security guards. He wants to be sure his place is a safe place for his staff and customers as they prepare to open a museum and private trading card space right next door in September.
Chicago police are still investigating the incident.