NEW YORK -- A Brooklyn detective recounted Monday how he and a partner recovered part of a stolen $75,000 baseball card collection, rekindling memories of his days as a Brooklyn Dodgers fan.
Police Sunday were able to recover about 60 percent of the cards and memorabilia stolen by thieves who broke through a wall at the Baseball Hobby Shop in Brooklyn on Friday.
Store owner Dave Festberg said police who recovered the items should be nominated 'most valuable detectives.'
Detective Kevin Sutton, who recovered the items with 63rd Precinct partner Richard Lawrence, laughed when told of that nomination and said the case was satisfying.
'It was nice getting that stuff back,' he said. 'Some of the stuff was great.'
'He had a Pee Wee Reese (card),' said Sutton, noting that reminded him of his youth. 'I used to walk to Dodger Field when I was a kid.'
The stolen collection, valued at $75,000, included yearbooks and thousands of cards, such as those of Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig.
'He had a 1957 Dodgers yearbook,' Sutton said of the team's last season in Brooklyn. 'I had the same one at home.'
Sutton, 38 and now a Mets fan, said the collection was stolen by a 'junkie' to buy 'crack.'
'He sold it for $500,' said Sutton. 'The mere thought of that price made the owner seem even more frustrated.'
Police know who stole the collection but no arrest has been made, said Sutton. 'There are complications,' he said without elaboration.
Sutton said the theft got a lot of publicity and that helped generate several tips. That led to detectives uncovering part of the collecton from another collector who had unwittingly purchased it.
'It's not too often that you get to recover something of value that can't be replaced,' Sutton said. 'These items just can't be replaced.'
Sutton said the dealer gave the items he had purchased to police after reading newspaper accounts of the robbery.
Festberg later went to the precinct to pick up the recovered items.
'A couple of the big boys are still missing,' said Festberg, referring to still unlocated pre-World War I cards for Cobb and Christy Mathewson and 1930s era cards for Ruth and Gehrig.
'I'm very happy and think that more cards will surface,' said Festberg, who claimed his collection is one of the five largest in the United States.
