COBB COUNTY, Ga. — Cobb County police are working to identify a man accused of stealing thousands of dollars of merchandise from a small business owner.
Channel 2 Cobb County Bureau Chief Michele Newell was at JT Collectibles on Roswell Road, where the owner told her he knows who robbed him.
It’s all thanks to video taken from security cameras installed at the JT Collectibles shop. Owner JT Smith told Newell that he posted the video from the break-in on the business’s Facebook page and was tipped off about who the suspect may be.
The biggest clue though was a surprise.
Smith told Channel 2 Action News that the suspect actually called him on the phone from an unknown number.
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For the past 25 years, the shop has been a community staple in Cobb County for the items it carries, from graded cards to sports memorabilia.
“Just picked up a Larry Bird Magic Johnson signed frame here and I come here all the time,” customer John Marshall said. “They have great deals.”
Smith said he’s grateful for all of his customers but is tired of being a target for thieves.
“I’ve got four or five open cases with Cobb County right now,” Smith said.
The most recent theft was caught on video. Smith told Channel 2 Action News that at first, the guy seemed legitimate.
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“Well, he came in first to sell me some cards,” Smith said. “I bought about $15 worth of cards and he left, he came back the next day with more cards.”
After that, Smith said the man told him he was interested in buying from the store too.
He said on video, you can see him taking cards and other items while Smith was in the far back of the store getting boxes.
“He kept sending me back and forth, back and forth,” Smith said. “I didn’t realize he had stolen several boxes of cards.”
Smith said multiple people identified the man after he posted the security footage to his Facebook page.
“Nobody had anything good to say,” he said.
It’s not just Smith who’s upset, but his customers too.
“I think it’s terrible, I hope he catches the guy,” Marshall told Channel 2 Action News. “I think it’s unacceptable.”
The owner told Newell that when the suspect called him from an unknown number, the man tried to strike a deal with him to brush it all under the rug, offering to give him the stolen items back with some cash.
Smith said he isn’t falling for it and police say they’re working diligently to ID the man as they investigate the theft.
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