GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn. - Mark Hochstaetter and Rob Hunegs are going on 20 years of friendship.
They’re both now technically retired and run the Twin Cities Sports Cards and Collectibles shop in Golden Valley.
“People ask, 'What would you do if you were not doing this?' I don’t know,” Hochstaetter says.
“I don’t know either. Only so many times you can read a book or walk on the treadmill,” Hunegs jokes.
Both are collectors of vintage sports memorabilia and both were less than pleased Tuesday morning when they found out a thief or thieves broke in to their shop and stole two safes that stored thousands of dollars’ worth of items.
“It is very frustrating,” Hochstaetter says.
“I mean, we have cameras, we have an alarm system," Hunegs says.
The break-in at their shop was the third in three weeks in the Twin Cities metro. The first was at Three Star Sports Cards Roseville on March 28. Thieves made off with roughly $1,000 worth of cards, police say.
The second was at Ultimate Collectables in Hopkins in the overnight hours of April 10 and 11. There, the store owner says thieves made off with roughly $100,000 in sports memorabilia merchandise.
On Tuesday morning, Hochstaetter and Hunegs' shop was the third.
Golden Valley Police Commander Steve Johnson says it’s too early to tell whether the three cases are related or just coincidental, but it is something they are looking into. Hopkins Police echo that sentiment.
"We are at a time and place in our lives where yeah, you don't like it to happen, but there are worse things that could happen," Hunegs says. "But you go on. It won’t change our life."