Owner offers reward after video captures thieves stealing $2 million in baseball cards

Thieves made off with $2 million worth of baseball cards at a show in Texas over the weekend, and now the owner is offering a reward to get them back.

The four-day Dallas Card Show kicked off Thursday at the Marriott Dallas Allen Hotel & Convention Center in Allen, Texas. The cards were stolen over the weekend, posted Ashish Jain, who owns Legacy Cardz, on Instagram Tuesday.

“Besides the one marked ‘archived’ in the spreadsheet link in my bio, all of these cards were taken from us at the Dallas card show,” he wrote.

Jain added that although the card certifications aren’t easy to see, he’d like to hear from people who have seen his stolen cards for sale.

He followed up with a series of posts about the heist, including a video showing how it all went down.

The video shows three people who work for the owner manning the shop’s booth. Underneath one of the tables at the booth is a case containing the baseball cards. 

In the video clip, three men wearing hats approach the workers and show them their phones, distracting them. When all three of the workers are distracted and looking at the mens’ phones, a fourth man who had been stacking chairs walks over and reaches under one of the tables, walking away with a case of baseball cards.

“The man seen taking the case from under the table in the middle of the square of tables had been stacking chairs near the booth for over an hour, and we thought he worked there,” Jain wrote on Instagram. “These guys had been scoping us out all day after footage review, and even went (through) a process of changing clothes.”

He said the heist was carefully calculated because the men knew which case to take. The case, he said, contained a large portion of his inventory.

Jain also posted photos of the men from multiple angles so viewers could see the thieves and possibly recognize them.

He called it “very unfortunate” and asked people to share the post to get more eyes on it.

Jain told USA TODAY via email he is offering a $70,000 no-questions-asked reward for information that leads to the return of all of the cards.

He shared a link with the stolen card certifications for people to be on the lookout.

All the certification numbers on the cards have been terminated and the cards have been reported as stolen, he said. 

“If someone looks up or scans the bar codes, they will come up stolen with the respective grading companies,” he shared with USA TODAY.

Fellow collectors call for ‘special security’

Some social media users offered the shop owner some advice on keeping his items safe.

“Not for nothing but how are you gonna have what looks like well into 6-figures worth of cards in a case under a table without round the clock eyes on it at all times,” asked one Instagram user. “I really hate that this happened to you. But someone had to say it. Cases like that need to be handcuffed to wrists, simple.”

Another Instagram user said Jain needs “special security” members who have been trained to recognize odd behavior.

“I would request (a) more secure spot like in a corner with at least a couple entry points protected,” the social media user wrote.

Online, Jain applauded law enforcement for reviewing the video and getting photos of the thieves, Jain said.

He also made a TikTok account in hopes of reaching more people and getting his cards back.

“I have hope for both the criminals being caught and the cards being returned.”

Those with information can call the Allen Police Department at (214) 509-4321 or private message Jain.

Keep up with the search online at www.tiktok.com/@daysportcards and www.instagram.com/daysportcards.

Saleen Martin is a reporter on USA TODAY's NOW team. She is from Norfolk, Virginia – the 757. Follow her on Twitter at@SaleenMartin or email her atsdmartin@usatoday.com.