DERBY — A man was arrested in Pennsylvania Dec. 16 after allegedly attempting to sell a rare Babe Ruth baseball card that had been stolen out of Derby.
The Northern Lancaster County Regional Police Department charged the man and charge him with third-degree receiving stolen property, which is a felony. UPDATE: COURT RECORDS SHOW THE CHARGES WERE DISMISSED
According to a prepared statement from county police in Pennsylvania, a rare baseball card trader showed authorities a text message he received “regarding the sale of an authentic Babe Ruth Cut Signature.” In the memorabilia world, a cut signature is an authentic autograph affixed to a collectible, such as a trading card.
The suspect allegedly sent the text and told the buyer to meet him in a parking lot of a shopping center in Warwick Township in order to sell the Babe Ruth collectible for $2,500. Police said the card is worth $7,000.
Police worked with the buyer to set up a meeting for Dec. 16, and set up surveillance in the shopping center. The buyer wasn’t in the parking lot, but allegedly received a text from the suspect saying he was there.
Police approached the suspect while he stood outside a store next to a car owned by an Uber driver who had allegedly just taken the suspect to the scene from Philadelphia.
Police said they searched the suspect and found the stolen Babe Ruth card in his sweatshirt. Police also recovered a Derek Jeter baseball card at the scene.
According to an incident report from Derby police, the item was purchased from a Derby business using a fraudulent credit card in October. The incident remains under investigation.
