John Rogers Arrested for Taking Hard Drives from Archive

In court filings, receiver Michael McAfee says security camera footage shows John Rogers entering the archive offices late one night against the terms of a lease agreement. Above, a screenshot from the footage.

John Rogers, the fallen sports memorabilia and photo archive dealer, was arrested Thursday morning by the North Little Rock Police on felony theft and burglary charges stemming from a late night visit to his former office, now under control of a court-appointed receiver.

Police arrested Rogers during a traffic stop at about 10 a.m. at 4848 North Hills Blvd. A North Little Rock Police spokesman told Arkansas Business that some evidence was recovered during the stop and that Rogers didn’t give a statement.

Rogers was booked into Pulaski County jail just before noon Thursday.

Rogers, 42, entered the Sports Cards Plus office at 115 E. 24th St. in North Little Rock at 11:44 p.m. on Aug. 23, according to the police report. Michael McAfee, the receiver who now controls Sports Cards Plus and other Rogers assets, said Rogers stole three, 5-terabyte hard drives containing more than one million scanned photographs with metadata.

Arkansas Business reported the incident in August and obtained security camera footage that McAfee says shows Rogers entering the offices and leaving with the hard drives. The video is posted at the end of this article.

McAfee had filed an incident report with North Little Rock Police and a motion for contempt in Pulaski County Circuit Court. In the court filing, he said he believed Rogers obtained a security key from his ex-wife, Angelica, to gain entrance to the building. She gained sole ownership of the couple’s business interests as part of their divorce last year.

A lease agreement prohibits Angelica Rogers from entering or allowing anyone else to enter the property without the consent of McAfee. The agreement also precludes John Rogers from exercising any future rights he might gain to the property.

“There was no legitimate reason under the lease for Mr. Rogers, Ms. Rogers, or any person associated with Ms. Rogers to enter the premises at 11:44 p.m. on a Saturday night,” McAfee’s filing said. 

In court filing after the incident, Rogers claimed the hard drives were assets he bought personally. During an Oct. 21 hearing in Pulaski County Circuit Court, Rogers’ attorney Brett Myers said Rogers went to the North Little Rock Police Department and voluntarily turned in the hard drives. But McAfee’s attorney, Andrew King, disputed the account.

“Those are not the hard drives that Mr. Rogers turned over to the North Little Rock Police,” King said at the hearing.

Pulaski County Circuit Court Chris Piazza had scheduled a Dec. 10 hearing to consider McAfee’s motion for contempt against Rogers, but that hearing is likely to be delayed due to scheduling conflicts.

Rogers spent a night in the Pulaski County jail in July after being arrested on a contempt warrant for failing to comply with court orders to turn over documents to creditor First Arkansas Bank & Trust.

Security Camera Footage