PORTLAND, Ore. ( KOIN ) — A Marion County man is facing charges after he allegedly stole hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of comic books from customers of his business, reselling them online and to a private dealer.
The investigation originally began in February when a man called the Linn County Sheriff’s Office from Maryland to report he sent four comic books to a business called Hero Restoration in 2019.
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The man added he had paid the owner, 57-year-old Michael DeChellis, just over $5,000 on restoration services, noting the comics had a combined value of almost $62,000. However, he reportedly never received his comics or a refund, and DeChellis had also stopped communicating with him.
Soon after, LCSO found 19 other customers from 11 different states had reported similar incidents involving DeChellis and Hero Restoration. The financial loss from the restoration fees and the reported stolen comic books totaled over $300,000, according to LCSO.