Golden Valley sports memorabilia store burglary marks third in Twin Cities area

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn. (KMSP) - Authorities in the Twin Cities are investigating the third burglary targeting sports card stores in the last month.

Twin Cities Sports Cards in Golden Valley was burglarized Monday night, exactly one week after Ultimate Collectibles in Hopkins had $100,000 in vintage baseball cards and collectibles stolen.

The owner of Twin Cities Sports Cards, Rob Huneg, says the burglars broke a window to gain entry, getting away with two safes weighing 300 and 150 pounds. Huneg says the safes contained cash and vintage baseball cards valued at more than $10,000.

“They obviously had cased the store,” said Huneg. “They came in through the office where there wasn’t a camera, took the safes and never walked around.”

Huneg said after hearing about the theft of Ultimate Collectibles, he felt “uneasy” so he took his most expensive vintage baseball cards home and called a window company for a quote on metal window covers.

"I also left the cases unlocked, for the first time ever, with the locks right on top,” he said. “I figured if they're going to break in, at least don't smash my cases."

The owners of Three Star Sportscards in Roseville say the break-ins in Hopkins and Golden Valley sound all too familiar. They were burglarized on March 27. In that case, the burglars cut holes in the roof and jumped down to steal $2,000 worth of vintage cards.

In the small world of sports card collectors, co-owner of Three Star Sportscards Dan McKinnon says they are all watching out for one another.

"I will recognize it [the stolen cards] and get their information and hopefully have the police here before they can get away—so bring it here, please,” said McKinnon.