Akron Ohio coin shop broken into, coins stolen from safe

Michigan

AKRON - It seems like a plot out of a Hollywood movie: thieves break into a vacant storefront, carve their way through a wall and armed with a torch, get their hands on what is inside a loaded safe.
But Akron Police detectives believe that scenario is exactly what happened at Chet's Coin Shop sometime this past weekend.

The shop's owner, 73-year-old, Chester Endress lost some rare coins in the heist, including a 1795 half dime and a 1925 Buffalo nickel worth an estimated $50,000.

Endress has been collecting coins since he was a teen-ager.

Police believe the suspect or suspects broke into the vacant shop next door to the coin shop and tore through a wall which led to a closet inside the coin shop.

According to a police report, the suspect(s) then used a torch to get into a safe where Endress kept some of his coins.

No arrests have been made in connection with this case.

Barndog

must not have been a quality safe?

Michigan

<< <i>must not have been a quality safe? >>




Possibly, but I would bet there is no such thing as a 100% failproof safe depending on how determined the thieves are and
what equipment they have available to get into the safe.

fc

It seems like a plot out of a Hollywood movie:

now days hollywood imitates life. this is standard operating procedure
for crooks in NH.

break into the place with no alarms/video cameras and then go
through the wall. i hear of it all the time on the neighborhood watch
reports on the radio here in manchester, NH. One was just a month
or so ago.

thebeav

<< <i>and a 1925 Buffalo nickel worth an estimated $50,000. >>



I pity the other dealers in Akron....Their phones will be ringing off the hook when the public sees this line....

ricko

Thieves have used this method for a long time... that being said, they will always find a way... stealing is what they do. I always laugh when people cheer the passing of a law.... it does nothing to prevent crime, yet it is looked at as if it were a cure for disease. Laws do NOT prevent crime... only effective punishment can impact the level of crime. Crime will continue to be a problem for a variety of reasons... But effective, enforced retribution will impact the crime rate. Cheers, RickO

koynekwest

I deal with Chet on a regular basis. He's one of the few decent dealers in this area, and one of only two or three around here I will do any business with. His safes weren't of the cheap variety. I'm almost certain he will never open up again, which will be quite a loss.

Michigan

More details from Ohio.com:


Before he could slip his key in the door to open his coin shop Monday morning, Chester Endress knew something was very wrong.

''I saw one of the (display) cases up against the door and I got sick,'' the 73-year-old Endress said. ''Right then, I knew everything was gone.''

Endress, who owns Chet's Coins in a shopping plaza on Carnegie Avenue in Akron, found the steel doors on the refrigerator-size safe wide open and one of them had a gaping hole where there had once been a combination lock.

Endress ran his hand across one of the vault's empty shelves.

''They got everything. . . . I easily had a half-million dollars worth of coins,'' he said Wednesday, still finding it difficult to come to terms with the loss.

Pointing to a large opening punched into the rear wall of the small storefront, which sits across the road from Nesmith Lake, he marveled at the chutzpah of the robbers.

''They disabled the alarm and busted in through the back wall. Then they took a torch to the safe,'' Endress said, picking up a scorched square of metal the same size as the hole in the safe. ''It had to take them a while to get it open.''

Endress believes there had to be several thieves because the coins, some of which were kept in valises weighing close to 100 pounds, would be too heavy
for one person to haul away.

''These guys were professionals,'' he said. ''They knew what they were doing.''

Endress said the break-in occurred sometime after he closed the shop around 4 p.m. Saturday and before he returned at 8 a.m. Monday.

''There were a ton of coins in the safe,'' he said. ''Most of them were part of my private collection.''

Plopping down heavily on a folding chair, Endress put his hands on top of his head and fought valiantly to hold back the tears.

His ex-wife, Donna Endress, and his daughter-in-law, Tammy Kohut, were at the coin shop Wednesday to lend moral support and help him straighten up.

''Coin collecting is his life,'' Donna Endress said. ''He loves it.''

She recalled how during the early years of their marriage, he would take his weekly grocery-store paycheck to the bank and have it cashed in coins.

He smiled at the memory.

''I got paid $104 a week,'' he said. ''I would get the coins and take them home and check through them.''

Two of his most valuable coins were a 1795 half-dime and a 1795 Washington coin.

''The half-dime is worth about $1,800. The Washington piece is very rare, maybe one of just two,'' Endress said.

This is the first major break-in Endress has experienced since he retired from the grocery business and opened Chet's in 2000.

''I retired on Oct. 4, 1999, and four months later, February 2000, I opened the shop. You can only take so much Oprah Winfrey and Jerry Springer,'' he joked.

The store wasn't a money-maker, according to Endress.

''I probably wasn't even making minimum wage, but I enjoyed coming in and talking to customers about coins. It was a lot of fun, but that's all done now,'' he said throwing up his hands in surrender.

Endress said the business wasn't insured — ''the cost was just too prohibitive.''

He doesn't plan to reopen the shop.

''I don't have the heart for it now,'' he said. ''Even if I tried, I'm afraid someone would just steal it all again.''

While cleaning and straightening a desk, daughter-in-law Kohut made a discovery — a plastic-encased dollar bill.

''It was the first dollar I ever made at the shop,'' Endress said, quipping that at least the thieves hadn't completely cleaned him out.

''Don't get it wrong — this really hurts,'' he said. ''I feel like sitting down crying somewhere. But what are you going to do?''

Endress is hoping that someone saw something and will contact Akron police.

But he doesn't hold out much hope.

The coins ''are gone and I'll never get them back,'' he said, '' . . . There were coins I had for 50 years. It took me most of my life to get those coins and they came in and took them in a couple of hours.''

guitarwes

Justice will be served......here and now, or after this life.

My sympathy is with the owner.

Coinguy19

Hey fc, I didn't know you were from Manchester, I too live there.

mrearlygold

No alarm mat around safe? At random sections of the store along with motion detectors?

Sorry for the loss but being properly alarmed is a necessity and a cost of doing business. ( And Insured )

ahooka454

chester,


i am very sorry for you devastating lose. i as a new collector cant begin to comprehend what you are and have gone through. i hope they catch

these scumbags and fry them... i am from cleveland and i know i will be telling everyone i know and the coin shops i go to to be on the lookout. a

more detailed list would be really helpful to spread the word.

i hate these types of stories, here this guy collected these coins for 50 years, man in 46 years when i hit that mark, maybe i can begin to know how

it would feel.

i am truly sorry chester...


adam

options26

What a sad, sad, sad story. 73 years of age and his lifes work all gone. I really hope they catch them.

NumisOxide

What a bunch of Scumbags!

SeattleSlammer

So how much does insurance cost for a coin shop with a big safe? Assuming he had $500,000 worth of coins as stated.....
Anybody know?

mrearlygold

<< <i>So how much does insurance cost for a coin shop with a big safe? Assuming he had $500,000 worth of coins as stated.....
Anybody know? >>



I doubt anyone would insure if it wasn't a proper burglary safe AND proper alarm.

Mercury10c

You sure this didn't happen in Florida?

TwoSides2aCoin

My brother drove around with a safe in his truck for a few weeks. Nobody attempted to mess with it. I asked him what he was trying to do by advertising such a thing.
He said he was just being a "SAFE Driver".


... to COIN a phrase

keets

there was a dealer at the local shop who new Chet, so this was the topic of discussion for awhile. the loss is probably substantial but the owner was well known and attends national shows(from what the other dealers were saying) so something will probably turn up to lead to some arrests.

garymc

An update for everyone, from akronnewsnow.com


Coin Stealer, Safe Cracker Caught
12/26/2007 6:33:12 PM | Tina Kaufmann

Police have arrested a man they believe is responsible for allegedly stealing $750,000 worth of coins from an Akron coin store,plus cracking many safes in Akron and Greater Cleveland.

Authorities took three truck loads of stolen goods from Kevin Hartman's home, where he was arrested over the holiday weekend.

Hartman's been under surveillance by Parma police for over a month due to his criminal past. In the late 80's and early 90's police confiscated three truck loads of stolen merchandise items he was likely going to sell on e-Bay.

You remember the coins stolen from Chet's 10 days ago? Police say they found some of the coins in Hartman's home. The owner of the Akron coin store hopes to get at least some of his $750,000 worth of his stolen items back.

Police are still looking for his friend, Michael Patton, who allegedly helps him commit the crimes.

coinsarefun

I am glad they got him

ahooka454

WOW, goes to show you what greed does. I live in the Cleveland area. I have been to a number of coin shops here. For the most part they are no better than swapmeets. I say this in regards to theyre no jobs to be had here. Its a poor area. Not like the good ole days. Alot of the advertised coin shops here are pawn shops and sometimes have some good stuff. Alot of money in such a small object leads to bad thoughts for bad people.



id like to know what else these guys have stolen?

coinsarefun

<< <i>WOW, goes to show you what greed does. I live in the Cleveland area. I have been to a number of coin shops here. For the most part they are no better than swapmeets. I say this in regards to theyre no jobs to be had here. Its a poor area. Not like the good ole days. Alot of the advertised coin shops here are pawn shops and sometimes have some good stuff. Alot of money in such a small object leads to bad thoughts for bad people.



id like to know what else these guys have stolen? >>





I used to live in Cleveland. I left there in 1978.
Went to visit a few month's ago first time since 78 and
wow what a difference but, I want to come back and visit during the summer
for old times sake again

ahooka454

yup i lived here as a kid 7-10 years old. out in brunswick. always in cleveland. evreywhere is diff. now. meth labs, home invasions, makes me really consider moving back to Iceland.

coinsarefun

Yes, I agree a lot of areas have gone to the dogs. I grew up on the east side.