(KRON) -- A Petaluma card shop owner is trying to warn other stores about people stealing cards.
Strike Zone owner John Yon says a male suspect walked into his business and stole a $550 box of trading cards from a shelf behind the counter while staff members were assisting other customers.
The suspect, who was clad in 49ers gear, was caught on video taking the box and putting it in his pocket.
Yon believes the man waited until he was busy getting something for another customer.
“While I went to the back, he reached through the counter and stole a $550 box," said Yon.
Photo courtesy of Strike Zone.
The suspect tried to sell the cards to another store in Rohnert Park, but Yon had already reached out to the store to let them know what happened. When the store recognized the cards and the suspect from the picture, they called police.
In recent years, collectible cards, like Pokémon and sports cards, have increased in value.
Throughout the Bay Area, these types of cards have become targets for thieves. In August, Tom Brady's new trading card store was open for one week before it was burglarized.
"It's like a lottery ticket, pure gambling. You can actually pull a $1 million card, or even just recently someone pulled an $8 million card."
A few years ago, Yon went to his landlord to request increased security because of the value of the merchandise.
"Believe it or not, this is the only store that has a gate in Petaluma," said Yon.
He also has many cameras, one of which caught the suspect opening a box of cards.
Photo courtesy of Strike Zone.
Yon added, "It helps me so other people know that 'Hey, watch out if you're coming to the store. We have cameras, we have people watching, and it's not right because we're trying to survive also.'"
Watch the full report from KRON4's Amanda Hari in the video player above.
