ESSEX, Md. — Tens of thousands of dollars worth of merchandise was stolen from Pops Sports Cards and Gaming in Essex in early October.
Now, the shop's owner is asking the community for help to bounce back.
Watch as the shop's owner is asking for the support of the community to bounce back
Surveillance video at Pops Sports Cards and Gaming captured three people burglarizing the Essex store early in the morning on October 8.
The shop's owner, Thomas Vanblargan, told WMAR-2 News that the thieves broke in from the back of the store and stole $40,000 to $50,000 worth of merchandise.
"They took a bunch of hobby boxes, some memorabilia, over here I have Pokémon cases and they took three of the Pokémon cases," Vanblargan said,
Now, the future of the shop is uncertain.
"[It's] just sad. You work four years to build something up and one night people come in, cowards in the middle of the night, and take stuff. We may go out of business now I don't know. Maybe we'll get through Christmas we don't know the outcome," he said.
On Sunday, they held a fundraising event at the shop with food, a raffle, and promos to try to offset their loss.
Vanblargan said about 50 people came in and out of the store throughout the day for the fundraiser.
But it's going to take a lot more than that to fully bounce back.
"It's tough out there for everybody, I realize that. Our sales are down right now, we realize that food's high we get it."
But people like Pastor Kenrick Semple still made sure to show some support.
Pops has helped the pastors church, the Church of God of Prophecy, with multiple food drives.
"We were really devastated to hear about his losses so we've already contributed some and we decided to come and grab some food as well to show our support," Semple said.
This is something he never thought would happen in his neighborhood.
"This is a quiet community, we really don't hear a lot of burglaries and so we were really devastated to hear this and we really hope this doesn't happen again to any of the businesses in this area."
WMAR-2 News reached out to Baltimore County Police asking for more information on the crime but we haven't heard back yet.
Vanblargan said they'll be implementing more security measures moving forward.
He adds that if you want to help donate or support, just give the store a visit.
