Charges have been laid and a Calgary man’s comic book collection has been returned after it was allegedly stolen from his storage locker in northeast Calgary over a month ago.
Heath McCoy says his locker at the Sentinel Storage facility on Manning Road was broken into on Dec. 23 and adds whomever did it took three boxes of comics he’s collected since he was a kid.
He never thought he’d ever see them again.
“I thought before Christmas they might have gone into, you know, a pawn shop or a comic shop or one of the book shops or whatever. I thought they were just gone,” says McCoy.
Calgary police say employees reported the theft at the Mayland Heights storage facility on Dec. 23. They say the suspect was “allegedly seen leaving the facility with an electric scooter, attempting to balance three boxes filled with unique comic books.”
On Dec. 26, police were called to a storage facility in Douglasdale where it’s believed the suspect “entered the storage facility on a scooter, broke into a locker, left the property and then returned with a black Chevrolet Malibu with a covered license plate.” It’s believed the suspect stole large quantity of tools.
Police say they identified the suspect after reviewing CCTV footage and on Jan. 27, a search warrant was executed at a residence in the 2000 block on 50th Street SE where two stolen electric bikes, a large amount of tools, and three boxes of vintage comic books were recovered.
A 46-year-old man now faces multiple charges including one count of break and enter, two counts of possession of stolen property over $5,000, and one count of possession of stolen property under $5,000. He is scheduled to appear in court on Feb. 18.
McCoy plans to catalogue his collection and may even buy insurance now that his collection has been returned. He says he won’t put the comics back into storage.
“My Christmas tree can go in the storage locker, the comics are going to be a lot better protected from now on,” he says.