A CGC-graded first-edition The Walking Dead comic valued at approximately $2,000 disappeared from a Cape Canaveral comic shop in June. Investigators later traced the same collectible to a pawn shop in Port Orange.
John Anthony Higgins, 63, was taken into custody Sept. 30. Deputies said he was also wanted by the Melbourne Police Department in a separate collectible-theft investigation involving a high-value Pokémon card and an alleged attempt to sell it to another business.
Court records filed after the arrest show the comic investigation has now resulted in a four-count felony case in Brevard County.
The Comic Went Missing as the Store Prepared for an Event
The five-page Brevard County Sheriff’s Office arrest affidavit says Defender Comics reported the comic missing on June 25. The store had been preparing inventory for a Comic Con Fest at Wickham Park in Melbourne, and employees began packing several days before leaving for the event on June 19.
The affidavit says the victim realized the comic was missing after arriving in Melbourne. An employee checked the store, and a later inventory still failed to locate it.
The affidavit identifies the book as a first-edition The Walking Dead comic graded by Certified Guaranty Company, or CGC. It carried certification number 4718407007 and was valued at $2,000. Deputies entered that specific item into stolen-property databases.
Pawn Records Showed Two Transactions Involving the Same Comic
On Aug. 10, Agent Dylan Weber learned of a pawn-system hit involving the collectible. The affidavit identifies the business as Godfather Pawn in Port Orange.
Weber obtained two original Florida pawnbroker transaction forms. According to the affidavit, the first showed Higgins pawning the same comic on June 19, the day the store discovered it missing. The transaction provided him with $700.
A second form showed another transaction involving the same comic on Aug. 8. This time, the affidavit says Higgins sold the book to the pawn shop for $850.
Weber also obtained surveillance footage from the Aug. 8 transaction. He wrote that the video was clear enough for him to identify Higgins, while pawn-shop employees said they had dealt with Higgins for years and also identified him as the person conducting the transaction.
Higgins Said a Deceased Friend Had Given Him the Comic
Weber located Higgins at his workplace on Sept. 30. According to the affidavit, Higgins confirmed that he had conducted the two transactions involving the Walking Dead comic at Godfather Pawn.
Deputies said Higgins told Weber that a friend who had since died gave him the comic in March 2026.
The affidavit records Weber’s response to that explanation: Defender Comics discovered the comic missing on June 19, the same date shown on the first pawn transaction. Higgins was taken into custody and transported to the Brevard County Jail.
A Separate Melbourne Warrant Involved Another Collectible Case
The affidavit also identifies an active Melbourne Police Department warrant in a separate 2025 case. It says Higgins was accused there of petit theft and dealing in stolen property involving what investigators described as the same general method of stealing collectible items and selling them to businesses.
The Sheriff’s Office separately said that investigation involved a high-value Pokémon card that Higgins was accused of stealing and attempting to sell to another store.
The Brevard County Sheriff’s Office booking record separates that older case from the new comic prosecution. The booking information lists a different docket for the Melbourne matter, along with a petit-theft charge and another dealing-in-stolen-property charge.
Initial-Appearance Records Detail the Charges and Bond
The Brevard County initial-appearance minutes identify four counts in case 05-2026-CF-051864-AXXX-BC. Two are listed as false owner information involving pawned items worth more than $300, and two are dealing or trafficking in stolen property. The court lists all four as second-degree felonies.
The judge found probable cause at the Oct. 1 initial appearance and appointed the Public Defender’s Office. Bond was set at $5,000 cash or surety on each of the four counts, for $20,000 in this case.
The court also ordered Higgins not to return to the place of the alleged violation. His arraignment is scheduled for Oct. 29 at 8 a.m. at the Moore Justice Center in Viera. The Brevard Clerk docket continues to list the case as pending.
Florida Pawn Records Preserve Identifying Details
CGC allows users to enter a certification number for a CGC-certified collectible and confirm its description and grade in the company’s database.
The Florida Pawnbroking Act requires pawn transaction records to include applicable serial numbers or other unique identifying marks and requires the person conducting the transaction to make representations about ownership.
For collectors with professionally graded comics or trading cards, keeping a separate record of certification numbers preserves an identifier that can still be checked if the collectible itself goes missing.