Hall of Heroes Thieves Caught- also featuring expensive Tortoises 1 1

[Doctor Obscure]

I haven't been part of this community long but I took some interest in the Hall of Heroes (Heros?) museum having a bunch of Golden Age comics taken about a month ago and read the thread reporting it. I apologize if this was reported and discussed here elsewhere but I didn't see an update and, being a curious sort of madman, looked up this story to see if there were any leads or updates... and boy, was there!

Again, apologies if this has already been shared. Also, one of the couple was working as a Correctional Officer (!):

"Rare comic books stolen from the Hall of Heroes Superhero Museum in Elkhart have been recovered.

They made their way all the way to Florida and were recovered alongside two Galapagos Tortoises and dozens of other priceless historical written works.

A press release from the St. Petersburg Police Department indicates that the comic books are just a small portion of a collection of stolen items retrieved from the home of Joshua and Dashae McCarty-Thomas.

The duo is accused of the theft of several rare and historical items including two tortoises that came up missing from the St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park on Nov. 30, 2022.

An arrest affidavit also claims that the duo are responsible for rare book thefts from as far back as Oct. 2019 and include Lighthouse Books, Dade City, Fla.; Haslam’s Book Store, St. Petersburg, Fla.; Read More Comics, Brandon, Fla, and the Hall of Heroes in Elkhart.

Police executed a search warrant of the McCarty-Thomas home on Tuesday and found one juvenile tortoise dead in the freezer, another alive in the yard, and verified the tortoises’ chips as those taken in November.

A probable cause affidavit indicates police also found a 1917 Boston American bound newspaper in Dashae’s possession, as well as Uncanny X-Men Lot #120 and #121 Alpha Flight in Joshua’s possession, which police say came from Hall of Heroes. After the search, St. Petersburg investigators contacted Hall of Heroes owner Allen Stewart, who told police he’d purchased the comics from an eBay account, recognizing them as the books stolen from the museum.

The couple appears to have used eBay for many of it’s transactions, using the account “You_Can_Never_Have_Too_Much_Awesome.” Stewart told investigators that the museum’s copy of Captain America #37 was also being sold under the account.

Around 50 comics books — all early key Marvel comics — were stolen, including Captain America No. 1 and Young Allies No. 1, Hulk No. 1 and No. 2, X-Men No. 1 and No. 2, Tales of Suspense No. 39, a 1st Iron Man and more were stolen from the Hall of Heroes March 19.

The real hero of this story, though, isn’t a cop or a detective, it’s comic book guy Dino Leto, who told reporters:
"When a comic book goes missing everyone finds out about it. There were some pretty substantial Golden Age books stolen that’s worth tens of thousands of dollars if not more. This is a very substantial theft.”

He probably visited the museum and did a case job. That’s classic crime 101. Any Batman villain would do that before they executed the action. Given time good will triumph in the end.

[Doctor Obscure]

Some links:

https://lithub.com/only-in-florida-couple-steals-rare-books-vintage-comics-and-endangered-tortoises/

https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/54160/comics-stolen-indiana-superhero-museum-surface-florida

https://www.wfla.com/news/pinellas-county/couple-accused-of-stealing-tortoises-rare-books-now-facing-more-charges/

“There were some pretty substantial Golden Age books stolen that’s worth tens of thousands of dollars if not more,” said Leto. “This is a very substantial theft.”

[ADAMANTIUM]

[manetteska]

Cap #37 on ebay

[Point Five]

This is great to hear!

 

[ThothAmon]

On 5/25/2023 at 2:44 PM, Point Five said:

This is great to hear!

 

Not so much for the tortoise. Some real mental midgets. 

[Still Only 20¢]

This is the alleged seller's feedback page from ebay:  https://www.ebay.com/fdbk/feedback_profile/you_can_never_have_too_much_awesome?filter=feedback_page%3ARECEIVED_AS_SELLER  I suspect some/most of the merchandise shipped and received was stolen...

Edited May 25, 2023 by Still Only 20¢
adding "most"

[jimjum12]

On 5/25/2023 at 2:49 PM, ThothAmon said:

Not so much for the tortoise. Some real mental midgets. 

.... and a tortoise is one of the easiest reptiles to care for. Sad. GOD BLESS ...

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

[B2D327]

On 5/25/2023 at 3:20 PM, Still Only 20¢ said:

This is the alleged seller's feedback page from ebay:  https://www.ebay.com/fdbk/feedback_profile/you_can_never_have_too_much_awesome?filter=feedback_page%3ARECEIVED_AS_SELLER  I suspect some/most of the merchandise shipped and received was stolen...

Yeah, I looked up their “sold” listings and it seems like quite a few are from the stolen items from the news report. I wonder if some of the buyers that actually received the stolen merch will be contacted by law enforcement since they could be used as evidence and are technically still the property of the robbery victims

[B2D327]

I’m guessing the sun fade on X-Men 120 will make it easily identifiable 

[theCapraAegagrus]

The recent feedback is funny, since some of the non-recipients figured out they're thieves.