He had the baseball with the big, bold, loopy signature of a legend.
Babe Ruth had signed it, the man said. And he had the certificate to show it was real, according to police. With $1,000 in his pocket, Shane Allen Simpson left a Marietta pawn shop Sept. 10.
The only problem? The ball was a fake.
When the shop owner realized he’d struck out, he contacted police.
“It was later learned the accused has multiple Babe Ruth signed baseballs in multiple pawnshops across no less than four different states,” Simpson’s arrest warrant states. “There are no less than three baseballs bearing the same certificate number as the one involved in this case in different pawnshops.”
Simpson has been charged with felony forgery, but investigators haven’t found him. And he’s a wanted man in two other states for the same crime, according to police.
"Simpson has been selling these baseballs and stolen merchandise in pawn shops from Georgia to Houston, Texas," according to the Mississippi Coast Crime Stoppers' Facebook page. Police in Santa Rosa County, Fla., said Simpson is known to frequent the area and business owners should be on alert.
Ruth died in 1948 at the age of 53, but his signature remains one of the most highly sought among collectors, according to PSA Autograph Facts. Legitimate signatures can be worth as much as $20,000.
Anyone with information on Simpson’s whereabouts should contact police.
About the Author
