Police Arrest Priest For Stealing Baseball Cards From Walmart

We've been seeing a lot of stories about thefts of playing cards and other collectibles, which makes it seem like the resale market for them is pretty huge.

Police in Pittsburgh say they busted 42-year-old Aidan Smith on February 27th after he left a Walmart in Economy Borough, just outside the city, with 27 packs of baseball cards hidden within his clothes and in a cardboard box.

Police were called to the store by Walmart security, who said Smith was in the store again after already having stolen from the same store just a few days before. After viewing footage, they found that Smith had stopped in the store each of the previous four days for baseball cards, none of which were paid for.

The stolen baseball cards are valued at a total of $1,099.99

After they arrested him, officers realized that this wasn't just Aidan Smith, this was The Very Reverend Aidan Smith, the head priest and dean of Trinity Episcopal Cathedral.

The bishop for the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh, Right Rev. Ketlen Solak, said the diocese is investigating the situation and follow the church canons that lay out the process for handling misconduct by clergy.

“I have spoken with Aidan and assured him of our prayers for him in this difficult time. Please pray for Aidan, for Melanie and their children, for the entire cathedral congregation as we grieve this news, and for everyone involved in this hard situation,” Solak wrote.

Smith had already been on administrative leave in January, but Solak didn't explain why. He declined to comment.

Read more at AP News