Marion Co. man arrested for alleged theft, resale of $300k worth of comic books

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.

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.

Officials then found DeChellis had filed articles of dissolution for Hero Restoration with the Oregon Secretary of State’s Office in 2023. After the dissolution, some of the reported stolen comics were found to have been sold online and to a private comic book dealer in Washington.

Deputies say they then tried to contact DeChellis about the reported stolen comics, but could not track him down for several months.

However, on Wednesday, they found he was living in Aumsville and arrested him on charges of first-degree aggravated theft, first-degree theft and racketeering.

After serving a warrant on his property, officials say they seized numerous comic books and evidence related to the thefts.

The investigation is ongoing.

Anyone with information in this case is encouraged to contact the Linn County Sheriff’s Office.

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