By Nate Gartrell
Bay Area News Group
DANVILLE, Calif. — Their ringleader thought he had deliberate out a “full proof (sic)” crime, the place he and some cohorts would make at the least $50,000 in sports activities memorabilia disappear and dupe the cops, authorities say.
But in the long run, it was the Danville police case file that was stuffed with proof. Now, 5 suspects — all males aged 23 to 52 — have been arrested and are awaiting a call by the Contra Costa District Attorney’s workplace to see what prices they’ll doubtlessly face.
The goal was Talkin’ Baseball, a sports activities memorabilia retailer on Hartz Avenue that misplaced an estimated $64,343, not together with the injury the burglars did after they smashed via a entrance window. They deliberate the entire thing out meticulously. One man distracted the Danville cops with a faux name a couple of suspicious particular person on the opposite facet of city, then round 3 a.m. on Feb. 11 two masked males smashed inside the shop, coated gentle sensors with tape, and loaded bins of Pokemon and soccer playing cards into two e-bikes, authorities stated.
The retailer informed prospects of the housebreaking on a Feb. 12 Instagram publish however introduced it will be open per traditional regardless of the crime, asking prospects to “please excuse our temporary ‘plywood window’ decor.”
“We’ve spent the day working closely with local authorities, reviewing footage, and processing the shop for evidence,” the publish says. “A massive thank you to our local police department for their incredibly thorough work yesterday.”
From there, every part went downhill for the burglars. First, they apparently loaded an excessive amount of stolen property and left a cache of a number of bins and a crowbar subsequent to a close-by bakery, whose proprietor seen the suspicious assortment and known as police. Surveillance footage confirmed the burglars retrieving the products all through the morning, at 4:50 a.m. and 5:50 a.m.
They have been tracked to a Chevrolet, which was registered to a 23-year-old man who police shortly honed in on as their predominant suspect, authorities stated. His cellphone data aided police in figuring out extra culprits.
All the suspects have been males who lived in Danville, Alamo, or San Ramon. Three are 23-year-old males, one is 47, and the fifth is 52. The suspected ringleader, a 23-year-old Danville resident, was discovered with among the stolen playing cards, e-bike batteries, a March verify for $6,000 from a memorabilia retailer, and different incriminating proof, authorities stated.
Some of the 5 suspects have been immediately concerned within the housebreaking, others aided the perpetrators by serving to them promote the playing cards or make a getaway, in keeping with police.
But the coup de grace for the burglars got here on April 9, when police arrested the 23-year-old and seized his cellphone. In it was a trove of proof — every part a prosecutor may dream of to file a industrial housebreaking case. The man had bragged to one in all his cohorts about how he had the “full proof” crime all deliberate out, how he purchased an “insane” police scanner to observe the cops, how he estimated they might make off with $50,000 in wares, and the way straightforward it will be to promote every part afterwards.
“Bro I’ve been working this angle for three months casing the place without arousing suspicion. Waiting for the perfect time to strike,” he wrote in December 2025 , in keeping with police. “This job is in and out less than 60 seconds I already have the entry point and know how to get in without tripping security systems.”
The man adopted Talkin’ Baseball on Instagram and frequented the shop beforehand. He additionally used a drone to get arial footage of the enterprise and researched property on Tweed Drive earlier than calling police the morning of the housebreaking and claiming to be a resident there reporting a housebreaking. Two Danville cops responded to the hoax name whereas the enterprise was being burglarized, authorities stated.
Also on the cellphone have been receipts believed to replicate stolen playing cards re-sales, and web searches for issues like, “how long for my store security cameras to notice burglary” or how a lot jail time an individual would get for robbing a retailer. When police arrested the person on April 9 , he expressed stunned that any of the soccer playing cards in his possession might be stolen and denied realizing why his Chevrolet was close to the enterprise at 3 a.m. the morning of the housebreaking.
But when he was booked into jail on suspicion of conspiracy and industrial housebreaking, he known as an alleged co-conspirator and made yet one more damning assertion, authorities stated.
“They got me bro,” he allegedly stated.
The probe was spurred by concern over the sheriffs’ mixed $110 million deficit in 2025
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