The NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins reported that they had recovered a shipment of 19,000 bobbleheads after an 11-day rescue effort involving federal authorities and a ransom demand.
The bobblehead was meant to commemorate hockey legend Jaromir Jagr, but the team announced it was stolen when the package arrived in California in early March 2024.
Nearly two weeks later, team officials announced they had recovered the shipment as part of an operation involving the Los Angeles Police Department, the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI.
“They were scheduled to arrive at the arena,” Pittsburgh Penguins executive Kevin Acklin said. KDKA. “They never arrived. At first we heard there was engine trouble, but then a group of extortionists stole the bobbleheads, probably along with other merchandise, and are negotiating with the trucking company to release them. It was like, ‘They. “
Acklin, the team’s business operations manager, told local media that someone used fake documents to remove a shipment of bobbleheads from a storage facility.
“Someone gave the distribution center fake documents,” Acklin said. “They either left with our product or drove away. Then we started contacting the company to have it shipped back. It ended up taking about a week.”
The shipping company then used its own “cargo recovery team” to pick up the shipment. Penguins executives also alluded to the fact that the thieves demanded a ransom, but could not say whether the shipping company paid the ransom.
“We were not directly involved in paying the ransom,” Acklin explained. “It was the supplier’s responsibility to pick them up and deliver them, and they did that. Right now, I’m not 100% sure if they paid for it. My guess is they I think they probably paid for it and they have this type of insurance’ loss. “
Hockey executives said the thieves have not been arrested, but the truck containing the bobbleheads was indeed secured by a recovery team.
official team announcement “A special cargo recovery team negotiated the return of the stolen items to a secure warehouse.”
After the package initially went missing, the Penguins’ public relations team quickly got to work, capitalizing on the popularity of all-time great Jagr to downplay the situation.
“Has anyone seen my bubblehead?? There are 18,000 of them. Actually I had one, but I was missing 17,999. Please let me know. Thank you,” Jagr wrote on his blog . X account.
The team then quickly filmed Juggle taking an imaginary journey by car to find the remaining figures. The video claims that the package theft is a publicity stunt, with the host saying,pat mcafee show“I wondered if this story was a ‘work’ of fiction.
“Was the theft a publicity stunt?” A fan asked the hockey team directly. Instagram.
“Unfortunately, it was actually stolen,” the team responded. “All fans in attendance will receive a voucher containing a one-time scannable barcode needed to claim their bobblehead at a later date,” the team added.
Acklin briefly worried that it might have gone north of the border, but the cargo never left California.
“I got a call and they said there was a shipment in Ontario. I was like, ‘How did it get to Canada?'” But apparently it was in Ontario, California. ”
Ticket holders will use their vouchers to obtain valuable memorabilia promised nearly a month in advance.
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