CLEVELAND — A Cuyahoga County grand jury has indicted 27-year-old Jacob Paxton and 50-year-old Jason Bowling, who allegedly stole over $2 million in vintage baseball cards from the Best Western in Strongsville.
Officials say two cards, a 1909 Ramly Walter Johnson card and a 1941 Ted Williams card, which are valued at $89,540 in total, remain missing.
“I want to personally thank the Strongsville Police Department for their diligent work on this case and for their efforts in recovering 52 out of the 54 stolen cards,” said Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael O’Malley. “I urge the public, please do not let these two pieces of baseball history remain lost. If you have any information regarding the two missing cards — a 1909 Ramly Walter Johnson card and a 1941 Ted Williams card — please contact the Strongsville Police Department.”
Pictures of the cards that remain missing can be viewed below:
The incident dates back to April 17, when a FedEx delivery driver dropped off a package containing 54 vintage baseball cards worth $2,123,447 at a Best Western hotel on Royalton Road in Strongsville.
Memory Lane Inc. shipped the cards to the hotel for a sports card conference in Strongsville. The next day, a representative for Memory Lane Inc. attempted to claim the package after receiving an email confirmation that it had been delivered, but hotel staff informed the representative that the package could not be located.
During an investigation by the Strongsville Police Department, it was determined that Paxton, a Best Western employee, allegedly went through several packages that had been delivered to the hotel, including the vintage baseball cards, which he allegedly took to Bowling's residence.
On May 23, Strongsville police executed a search warrant at Bowling’s residence where they recovered 52 out of the 54 stolen baseball cards.
Paxton is facing the following charges:
- One count of aggravated theft of $1.5 million or more
- One count of tampering with evidence
Bowling is facing the following charge:
- One count of receiving stolen property
The collection of the 54 missing cards included rare Cracker Jack cards, along with high-quality Mickey Mantle and Roberto Clemente cards. A source close to the case previously told 3News that items like these would be difficult to sell to reputable card shops because Strongsville police had already talked to such businesses in the area.
Anyone with information on the incident is asked to contact the Strongsville Police Department at 440-580-3247 and reference report no. 2024-000693.
The duo will be arraigned at the Cuyahoga County Justice Center on a date that has yet to be announced.