Last week, Cameron Chrenka walked into Dean’s Dugout in Naperville — his favorite collector card shop — with a $50 bill burning a hole in his pocket.

An avid connoisseur of football trading cards, the 10-year-old snagged a couple cheap packs from the store’s $1 bin and approached the cashier.

He laid his crisp Christmas gift on the counter. The total came out to $1.97. But Cameron didn’t want any change.

It was the least he could do.

On New Year’s Eve, Dean’s Dugout was the victim of an armed robbery. According to store owners Marilyn and Dean Bapes and Naperville police, a man walked into the business near closing time Dec. 31 and stole a bag’s worth of merchandise under the threat that he had a gun in his pocket.

No one was hurt, but the Bapes, who started Dean’s Dugout together 32 years ago, were left shaken. The incident remains under investigation.

Cameron heard about the robbery from his parents on New Year’s Day, he said. He wanted to go in and see Marilyn and Dean as soon as he could, but the business was closed for the holiday. He settled for the next afternoon.

Cameron walked into the store at 2035 S. Washington St. knowing he wanted to give away his Christmas money.

“It all started when I found out that they got robbed,” he said. “I was so sad because they’re one of my favorite card shops to go to and I felt really bad.”

At first, when he slid forward $48 more than he owed, Marilyn — on the receiving end of Cameron’s donation — didn’t know what to do.

“I said, ‘Let me get you some change,’” Marilyn said.

Carmeron stopped her, adamant to get Marilyn to accept. They haggled for a while, Marilyn refusing to let Cameron give up his own present for her and Dean. But Cameron won out in the end.

“He told me, ‘Well, it’s my Christmas money and the rule of (my) house is that I get whatever I want with my Christmas money.’”

Convinced, Marilyn called Dean over to see what was going on. Cameron’s generosity sunk in, and they cried.

“Both Dean and I broke down,” Marilyn said. They gave Cameron a hug.

“It made me really happy that I made someone’s day,” Cameron said. “I believe in helping people.”

He’s not the only one.

Since New Year’s Eve, Dean’s Dugout has received an outpouring of community support.

The same day Cameron came in, a second young customer pulled a similar move and left “a little bundle of money” for Dean’s, Marilyn said. A few days later, a group of regulars presented Marilyn and Dean with a card. Inside, there was a check for the money they raised through a GoFundMe account they set up for Dean’s after word of what happened spread.

“We’ve gotten hundreds of emails and hundreds of Facebook (messages) from people letting us know how much they love Dean’s Dugout. … It’s been absolutely overwhelming,” Marilyn said.

Dean’s Dugout has been around since 1991. From the start, it’s been a passion project.

Marilyn and Dean have had a knack for collecting trading cards since they were kids. As adults, neither of them could shake the hobby. Instead, they started running card shows out of their garage. Eventually, they outgrew their home setup and opened a shop in Aurora, later moving their operation to Naperville.

Dean’s Dugout has your typical sports cards, packs and memorabilia — everything to make it a collector’s paradise. The couple’s personal favorite is anything White Sox, but they assure they have all the bases covered, including trading cards outside the world of sports such as Magic: The Gathering and Pokémon.

“We just try to make it an enjoyable experience for everybody that comes in, regardless of what it is that you like to collect,” Marilyn said.

The store’s business model: “Come in a customer, leave a friend.” The philosophy has allowed Marilyn and Dean to cultivate a family of familiar customers over the years.

“That’s how it’s been in this community,” Marilyn said. “They’re family to us.”

Feeling so at ease for so long, last month’s incident was the last thing they expected to happen, she said.

“For a store that caters so much to their customers, we couldn’t believe that somebody would want to do this to us,” she said.

The robbery itself was “very, very frightening, to say the least,” Marilyn said. It occurred about 30 minutes before closing.

Marilyn and a friend were cleaning up after a New Year’s Eve event when a man walked in, she said. He walked around for a few minutes and then left, but returned soon after. He asked about certain products, then backed up and announced he was going to rob the store. He had a gun in his right hand pocket, he said, and that while he didn’t want to hurt anyone, he would if anyone tried to stop him.

The man then started throwing merchandise into a bag. After he left, Marilyn’s friend got a video of the man driving away while Marilyn called 911.

According to Naperville police, the suspect is described as being in his mid-30s, standing about 5-foot-6 and weighing around 200 pounds. He fled in a tan/beige Toyota Highlander northbound on Washington Street, police said.

Marilyn declined to comment on how much merchandise was stolen.

She did say, however, that “the man who did this to us (is) not going to make us stop” doing what they love, a resolution only affirmed by the community’s encouragement.

“Obviously, you’re a little skittish after something like this happens, but then you realize how blessed you are. Things could have been so much worse. … Dean and I said a long time ago when we opened, we said we’re going to keep doing this until we’re not having fun anymore.

“Thirty-two years later, we’re still having fun. So nothing is going to stop us.”

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Originally Published: Jan 11, 2024 at 11:12 am