Two people in San Diego have been arrested after a police investigation led officers to a home packed with stolen merchandise – including shelves lined with WWE action figures worth more than $1,000.
On 2 October, the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department executed a search warrant at a residence on Gold Coast Drive. Inside, they detained 36-year-old Brittany Gomez and 52-year-old Miguel Dominguez.
A sweep of the premises “led to the recovery of numerous stolen items from Target and Walmart,” the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
The haul included toys and other goods investigators say were taken with the intent to resell.
Photographs released by police show hundreds of toy wrestling figurines, removed from their packaging, filling at least five large shelves and arranged inside toy wrestling rings. Meanwhile, a large number remain inside their original packaging, stacked from floor to ceiling around at least two sides of the room.
The discovery was made as part of an ongoing operation investigating retail theft in the region, according to the police.
Both Gomez and Dominguez were arrested and booked into San Diego’s Vista Detention Facility on multiple felony charges, including grand theft, possession of stolen property, and theft of merchandise valued at more than $950.
Rare wrestling figures can have a considerable aftermarket value. For example, the WWE’s Undertaker Glow-In-The-Dark Classic Superstars model can fetch almost $800 in original packaging.
That’s nothing compared to what particular Andre the Giant figures can command: For the soft vinyl Andre the Giant figure (with original cards), collectors can expect to part with around $5,000, according to The Sportster.
But the daddy of them all is the ultra-rare prototype figurine made of Hulk Hogan, who passed away earlier this year. For these prototypes, sums of $50,000 – $120,000 are considered acceptable.
