Parcher
06-05-2015, 07:53 AM
C/P from Reddit. Curio Cavern has become the hub of action for the NoVA Legacy crew. Regular referred to is Kemper Pogue. Tom Chilimi at C&G gets credit for immediately seeing the stolen cards for what they are, and contacting Gearhart at Curio, betting this was a collection of a Legacy faithful. While it was only a portion of the Pogue's cards, it was probably retail north of $7K. Gearhart and Tom at Curio basically contacted every local store, contacted the theives, and set up the sting with the cops.
Owner of Curio Cavern here. I'll try to explain this as best I can.
A few days ago, word got to us that one of our regulars had his collection stolen from his vehicle, and a sizable collection at that. Word was spread pretty quickly and efficiently, and it spread to here as well, it seems!
Yesterday evening (Wednesday, 6/3/15) information circulated to one of Curio's employees via Fairfax Comics & Gaming that some sketchy folk(s) tried to sell a portion of a large collection there. Fairfax Comics & Gaming gave us what descriptions they were able to ascertain before telling the assumed thieves that they wouldn't be interested/able to purchase the collection at that time. We discerned that it was highly likely that this was indeed the stolen collection belonging to one of our customers. Fairfax Comics & Gaming was able to get a cell number from them, and passed that along to us, and it was decided that Curio should handle it from there because it involved one of our regulars.
We contacted the suspect and said we would be willing to take a look at the collection and make an offer, and arranged a meeting Thursday (6/4/15) night between 8 and 9pm. They agreed. We also contacted our local police department to start trying to set up a way to catch the suspect(s).
Fastforward to Thursday (6/4/15). We open at 1pm and pretty close to then the suspect randomly shows up with a friend (we still don't know who the random friend here is but he was very unassuming, possibly just a ride), and a portion of the collection. Our employee looks through it, is able to silently ascertain that it is indeed the stolen collection (based on several unique aspects), makes a high-ball offer on the cards brought in (we don't want to deter them and have the thief try to sell it elsewhere), and then the thief proceeds to mention he has more, so long story short we arrange for him to come in later in the evening around 8-9pm (like originally discussed) with the rest and we'll be prepared to make him a full offer for all of it.
Meanwhile we increase communication with the local police and arrange for them to come in and catch the suspect(s). A detective comes by in casual-wear to see if we can identify some potential suspects that have outstanding warrants. It's a bit of a grey area, but the detective is able to assume that one of the suspects (we still don't know yet if there are multiple suspects or just one guy and friends he's bringing along for rides or something) is probably the thief, and this guy has priors, including armed robbery.
So the detective and I come up with a plan to play it as safe as we can. The detective calls the suspect from the number we have for him, pretending he's me (the owner) on the phone, and tries to arrange a more exact time, making it sound like he has a lot of errands and will only be at Curio for a short while. I suggest he mention telling the suspect over the phone that we can do more in store credit than in cash for the collection to increase the legitimacy of the conversation, and the suspect buys it pretty easily. The detective sets up a meet time for 8pm.
At 7:30pm, undercover police start showing up. Two situate themselves inside Curio just in case, while the rest get ready in the parking lot. We have several customers inside at this point, playing in a Thursday night Modern tournament, and I pause the round clock to make an announcement about everything that is going on. I lock the door, put a sign on it that says "back in 5 minutes! :-)", and explain to everyone that I'm going to keep the front door locked so that we can have a greatly reduced risk of anything ...risky taking place. I let everyone know that they are free to leave if they want (I'll unlock the door for them and lock it again afterwards), and everyone decides to stay- it's pretty clear they want to see this go down too, and I don't blame them; the Magic community has been needing some thieves-getting-caught examples to counter (pun intended) the plethora of miserable theft that goes on still.
Fast forward about twenty minutes. The thieves show up. They try the door; it's locked- they look at the sign and pause. I'm standing near the door, and there's obviously a bunch of people inside (pretty clear vision from the front), and all I can really do is look at them and hold my hand up with all five fingers gestured, telling them it will be five minutes for some unexplained reason. Thankfully they buy it and have a seat on one of our benches outside. And they're holding multiple boxes of magic cards. The cops are all in rapid communication at this point but they're waiting for the undercover squad cars to come around the corner, which takes a minute that feels like forever. Thankfully the suspects stay put, and in a swirl of motion they are confronted with almost a dozen police officers and a k-9 unit, told to put their hands on their heads, etc. They comply and are efficiently escorted into separate police vehicles and taken down to the station.
Meanwhile their vehicle is searched and within is discovered what is likely the rest of the stolen magic collection along with a bunch of cell phones and jewelry, almost certainly also stolen. Down at the station, the suspects spin different stories. The main suspect is indeed the guy with priors, and he is jailed to be handled by Prince William county, with whom he has outstanding warrants. The other guy turns out to just be a dude he knew with an ID that is young and has no criminal record, because he was going to need an ID to be able to receive cash for the cards (state pawn laws) and didn't have one himself, because obvious reasons.
So from what we can tell, most if not all of the collection is recovered, though currently in evidence, as well as several other stolen items from other individuals, who will hopefully find their welcomed return as well. The main suspect was arrested, is currently in jail, and awaits trial.
Score one for the good guys.
EDIT: Video of arrest: https://www.facebook.com/groups/472699159432889/permalink/847293435306791/
Owner of Curio Cavern here. I'll try to explain this as best I can.
A few days ago, word got to us that one of our regulars had his collection stolen from his vehicle, and a sizable collection at that. Word was spread pretty quickly and efficiently, and it spread to here as well, it seems!
Yesterday evening (Wednesday, 6/3/15) information circulated to one of Curio's employees via Fairfax Comics & Gaming that some sketchy folk(s) tried to sell a portion of a large collection there. Fairfax Comics & Gaming gave us what descriptions they were able to ascertain before telling the assumed thieves that they wouldn't be interested/able to purchase the collection at that time. We discerned that it was highly likely that this was indeed the stolen collection belonging to one of our customers. Fairfax Comics & Gaming was able to get a cell number from them, and passed that along to us, and it was decided that Curio should handle it from there because it involved one of our regulars.
We contacted the suspect and said we would be willing to take a look at the collection and make an offer, and arranged a meeting Thursday (6/4/15) night between 8 and 9pm. They agreed. We also contacted our local police department to start trying to set up a way to catch the suspect(s).
Fastforward to Thursday (6/4/15). We open at 1pm and pretty close to then the suspect randomly shows up with a friend (we still don't know who the random friend here is but he was very unassuming, possibly just a ride), and a portion of the collection. Our employee looks through it, is able to silently ascertain that it is indeed the stolen collection (based on several unique aspects), makes a high-ball offer on the cards brought in (we don't want to deter them and have the thief try to sell it elsewhere), and then the thief proceeds to mention he has more, so long story short we arrange for him to come in later in the evening around 8-9pm (like originally discussed) with the rest and we'll be prepared to make him a full offer for all of it.
Meanwhile we increase communication with the local police and arrange for them to come in and catch the suspect(s). A detective comes by in casual-wear to see if we can identify some potential suspects that have outstanding warrants. It's a bit of a grey area, but the detective is able to assume that one of the suspects (we still don't know yet if there are multiple suspects or just one guy and friends he's bringing along for rides or something) is probably the thief, and this guy has priors, including armed robbery.
So the detective and I come up with a plan to play it as safe as we can. The detective calls the suspect from the number we have for him, pretending he's me (the owner) on the phone, and tries to arrange a more exact time, making it sound like he has a lot of errands and will only be at Curio for a short while. I suggest he mention telling the suspect over the phone that we can do more in store credit than in cash for the collection to increase the legitimacy of the conversation, and the suspect buys it pretty easily. The detective sets up a meet time for 8pm.
At 7:30pm, undercover police start showing up. Two situate themselves inside Curio just in case, while the rest get ready in the parking lot. We have several customers inside at this point, playing in a Thursday night Modern tournament, and I pause the round clock to make an announcement about everything that is going on. I lock the door, put a sign on it that says "back in 5 minutes! :-)", and explain to everyone that I'm going to keep the front door locked so that we can have a greatly reduced risk of anything ...risky taking place. I let everyone know that they are free to leave if they want (I'll unlock the door for them and lock it again afterwards), and everyone decides to stay- it's pretty clear they want to see this go down too, and I don't blame them; the Magic community has been needing some thieves-getting-caught examples to counter (pun intended) the plethora of miserable theft that goes on still.
Fast forward about twenty minutes. The thieves show up. They try the door; it's locked- they look at the sign and pause. I'm standing near the door, and there's obviously a bunch of people inside (pretty clear vision from the front), and all I can really do is look at them and hold my hand up with all five fingers gestured, telling them it will be five minutes for some unexplained reason. Thankfully they buy it and have a seat on one of our benches outside. And they're holding multiple boxes of magic cards. The cops are all in rapid communication at this point but they're waiting for the undercover squad cars to come around the corner, which takes a minute that feels like forever. Thankfully the suspects stay put, and in a swirl of motion they are confronted with almost a dozen police officers and a k-9 unit, told to put their hands on their heads, etc. They comply and are efficiently escorted into separate police vehicles and taken down to the station.
Meanwhile their vehicle is searched and within is discovered what is likely the rest of the stolen magic collection along with a bunch of cell phones and jewelry, almost certainly also stolen. Down at the station, the suspects spin different stories. The main suspect is indeed the guy with priors, and he is jailed to be handled by Prince William county, with whom he has outstanding warrants. The other guy turns out to just be a dude he knew with an ID that is young and has no criminal record, because he was going to need an ID to be able to receive cash for the cards (state pawn laws) and didn't have one himself, because obvious reasons.
So from what we can tell, most if not all of the collection is recovered, though currently in evidence, as well as several other stolen items from other individuals, who will hopefully find their welcomed return as well. The main suspect was arrested, is currently in jail, and awaits trial.
Score one for the good guys.
EDIT: Video of arrest: https://www.facebook.com/groups/472699159432889/permalink/847293435306791/