CHEYENNE, Wyo. — A Florida man was arrested in Cheyenne last week after reportedly breaking into a local sports card store in the middle of the night and stealing thousands of dollars’ worth of memorabilia. According to the man’s affidavit, cooperation from nearby businesses helped police identify the suspect on camera and locate him.
The man, identified as Gregory Means, born in 1978, was arrested last Thursday on one count of burglary. The charge is a felony and comes with a potential maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. Means is presumed innocent until pleading or being found guilty.
Police said that Means stole thousands of dollars’ worth of autographed collectible sports cards and boxes. As collectors’ items, the cards vary in value depending on who is selling them and who is buying them, but their rarity makes most of them worth at least a few hundred dollars. One, a Panini-brand hobby box, was estimated to be worth around $1,600.
The items were reportedly stolen in the early morning of Nov. 1 from T&R Sports Cards in downtown Cheyenne. The owner of the store told police that, watching security footage remotely, he saw a man break into the store, shatter a display case and leave. The store was closed and locked at the time.
When officers came to the store, they found the door ajar and a case shattered. The case was supposed to be full of autographed cards. According to the owners, the following items, listed with their estimated average value, were missing:
- Tom Brady rookie card (2000) – $750
- Panini baseball 2026 orange hobby box – $1,600
- 2025 Leaf Elway, Brees, Kelly triple autographed super prismatic card – $350
- 2023 Montana, Staubach, Marino, Elway, Kelly autograph card – $500
- 2024 Topps resurgence Drake Maye rookie patch autograph card – $900
- 2025 John Elway Panini flawless all pro autograph card – $350
- 2016 Panini National Treasures signature Elway card – $350
- Downtown Travis Hunter card – $500
- 2025 John Elway immaculate First on the Line card – $350
- 2024 Topps Bo Nix cosmic chrome rookie pursuit card – $200
- 2025 Panini Justin Jefferson autograph card – $300
- 2024 Topps John Elway midnight autograph card – $250
- 2021 Donruss Optic Trevor Lawrence holographic card – $549
- 2021 Contenders Optic Micah Parsons rookie autograph card – $96
- 2021 Contenders ticket stub Micah Parsons rookie autograph card – $243.61
- 2023-2024 Panini Nikola Jokic autograph card – $700
- 2023-2024 Topps chrome Lamine Yamal card – $63.79
- 2024 Select WNBA Caitlin Clark card – $500
- 2021 Panini Ja’Marr Chase rookie autograph card – $450
The items’ estimated combined worth is around $9,000.
Detectives spent some time late last week going to different buildings in the area and asking to review security camera footage from the night of the robbery. Piecing together footage revealed a man wearing baggy clothes and a brimmed beanie walking to the store from the nearby Spiker Parking Garage the night of the robbery, exiting the store about 15 minutes later carrying a duffel or backpack and walking to the Pioneer Hotel.
Managers at the hotel noted that the man in the footage looked similar to Means, who was reportedly staying there. One manager said he was listening to police scanner audio the night of the robbery and remembered seeing Means enter the lobby late that same evening.
Means, who stayed at the hotel regularly, was reportedly known by staff to attempt to “scam” people out of cards, ordering them online and reporting to sellers that they had never been delivered.
When police confronted Means about the incident outside his hotel room, he reportedly denied any involvement, refused to allow police into the room and closed the door on them. They waited outside the room and arrested him when he eventually came out.
Search warrants were granted soon after, and police reportedly began recovering stolen cards. They were found thrown outside Means’s window on a lower-level balcony and hidden in his car’s spare tire compartment. They found items that were not initially reported stolen, including signed golf balls, an Ashton Jeanty autograph card, a Dak Prescott card and more. A crowbar was also found under his hotel room’s mattress.
Means was issued a $10,000 cash bond. A Laramie County Circuit Court judge will hear the facts of his case on Nov. 13 to determine if the District Court should take it up.
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Source: capcity.news
