McALLEN — An Edinburg CISD administrator was arrested and charged with theft last week after admitting to stealing $409.93 worth of comic books from Kaboom Comics here on North 10th Street.
Juan Martinez Jr., an assistant principal at Edinburg High School, was arrested by McAllen police Friday and charged with theft of property between $100 and $749.99.
Martinez, a Donna resident according to jail records, was released the same day on a $5,000 bond.
A probable cause statement shows an employee from the store noticed a $300 Amazing Spider-Man issue No. #252 was missing while working in the store last Wednesday.
At first the employee thought someone had bought the comic book but soon figured out that wasn’t the case.
Surveillance footage shows a man dressed in black picking out the Spider-Man comic along with two Venom comic books that he concealed in his jacket, the probable cause statement read.
In total, the accused Spidey snatcher made off with eight comic books.
“The man then exited the store with unpaid merchandise and left location in a black Ford F150 with unknown license plates,” the probable cause statement read.
A since deleted Facebook post from the store described the theft and asked the public for help identifying the sticky-fingered Spider-Man fan.
The post generated some traction. Capeless crusaders took stills from the video and spun a web of theories on who he could be.
The next day an officer spoke with a caller who said she recognized the man as Martinez after watching the footage.
On Friday, Martinez met with an officer at the McAllen Police Department, admitting to the theft and turning over the comics after waiving his Miranda rights, documents show.
That same day the store posted a video of the Spider-Man comic being returned to its shelf.
“Thank you to the McAllen PD for your investigation and quick action and all of you that called the PD with tips on who it was,” the post read.
The store did not reply to a request for comment.
An Edinburg CISD spokesperson replied to a request for a comment on Martinez’s arrest with a statement saying that the district does not comment on personnel matters.
