$50K in collectibles gone after veteran-owned shop burglarized on Veteran’s Day

COPPERAS COVE, Texas (KWTX) - A veteran-owned shop in Central Texas is asking for help finding the burglars who hit Apollo’s Sports and Collectibles.

Adding insult to injury, the crooks broke into the store on Veteran’s Day, leaving the store a mess.

Four burglars broke into the store around 2:30 a.m., and in the span of three minutes, stole items from signed cards, jerseys, and helmets.

Co-owner and Army veteran, John Bostic, said they took over $50,000 worth of merchandise.

“I’m in total disbelief. Disbelief that people would do that to small businesses. That’s crippling to a small business like us,” said Bostic.

The robbers took items and cash and left nothing but broken glass.

Co-owner and Army veteran, George Apollo, said he thinks about the children who will miss out on what was stolen.

“There’s little kids out there who love to collect sports cards, who love to collect. We just do it for them and the community,” said Apollo.

Apollo said he was once a kid who loved to collect himself. Along with the store’s merchandise, his personal collectable cards were stolen as well.

“That hurts the most. That is stuff that I invested money in, that I invested for my kids. It’s not for me, it’s for my kids when they grow up if they want to sell it,” said Apollo.

“We don’t take money out. We don’t make money personally. All of our money reinvests in this business. Eventually we would get to a point, but for the time we’ve been open we haven’t done that. This is a big setback,” said Bostic.

The two are setting up tighter security to avoid anything else being stolen.

“By the end of this week, we’ll be able to be reopened and try to move forward.”

Owners ask people to pay attention to the burglars’ distinctive shoes and hoodies to hopefully identify the robbers.

Here is a list of the serial numbers form the stolen items in case you spot any of the memorabilia up for sale.

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