Man accused of selling fake Babe Ruth signed baseball

MARIETTA, Ga. — A local pawn shop thought it was getting a great deal by buying a piece of baseball history. Instead police say it was an elaborate scam their suspect has been pulling across the southeast.

The baseball autographed by the legendary Babe Ruth cost AAA Pawn Shop in Marietta $1,000 and has police putting out the warning.

Channel 2’s Ross Cavitt obtained video from the shop showing a worker hitting the Internet, and doing some serious research on the baseball sitting next to him that is supposedly signed by baseball legend Babe Ruth as the suspect stands nearby. The baseball could be worth tens of thousands of dollars, but it wasn’t real.

“The entire thing was fake,” said Marietta Police Officer David Baldwin.

The pawn shop worker dished out $1,000 to the suspect, now identified as Shane Simpson, since he provided a certificate of authenticity that checked out.

“They were very, very good fakes. (Both) the letter of authenticity as well as the baseball itself seemed to be legitimate as well as the serial numbers on there,” Baldwin said.

Only later did the shop and police realize Simpson is allegedly a serial Babe Ruth baseball faker who’s accused of defrauding at least three other shops in three other states the same way.

We found a lookout posted by a Mississippi CrimeStoppers group earlier this month warning about the phony bambino balls.

Police warn surfing the web isn't enough when dealing with something like this. They say you should pick up the phone.

“Contact the company that shows the authenticated letter to make sure it is a legitimate baseball,” Baldwin said.

Marietta police are working with several other jurisdictions to find Simpson. It’s unclear if they catch him which jurisdiction will take custody of him.

WSBTV