NILES, Ohio (WKBN) – Niles police are investigating after thousands of dollars in rare sports trading cards and a signed Hines Ward jersey were stolen from a business.

Niles police continue their investigation and are looking into the possibility it could be connected to similar crimes in the area.

The break-in happened at Niles Sportscards & Collectibles on Robbins Avenue on March 3.

“We’re just a small, family business,” said Rachel Johnson.

Johnson’s family opened Niles Sportscards & Collectibles about five months ago.

When officers arrived, they found the glass on a side door had been shattered. Two display cases were also damaged. A third was empty with the door open.

“These two display cases were broken, which this one was locked. We understand it had the expensive cards,” Johnson said.

Police responded after one of the owners — Johnson’s mother — received a security notification on her phone showing someone inside the store.

It was all captured on a surveillance camera. In it, you can see a man break through a glass door and use a hammer to get into one of the display cases.

“So basically grabbed the stuff, left and honestly, he was here according to the videos like only about five minutes,” Johnson said. “It’s very, like, sad, just devastating. A lot of our customers are really nice and you can tell from the video he knew where to go.”

“It did appear that he had some specific property in mind,” said Niles Police Captain John Marshall.

Capt. Marshall says investigators will watch to see if any of the missing items pop up for sale somewhere else.

Detectives are also looking into the possibility that the theft at Niles Sportscards & Collectibles could be connected to similar crimes in Mahoning County and western Pennsylvania.

“If you have this type of business, it’s something that I would definitely keep an eye on because it may be an individual or a ring even of people targeting that type of business,” Capt. Marshall said.