Sword stolen from Alaska shop by thief dressed as ninja returned

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- A katana sword that was missing from an Anchorage card shop has been returned by a good Samaritan.

CBS affiliate KTVA reported surveillance video shows a person dressed as a ninja leaving BOSCO’S Comic, Cards & Games with what looked to be the Japanese-style sword. 

Employee Eric Helmick said in an email that a man bought the sword from the thief and brought it back to the shop Thursday after hearing on the news that it was stolen. 

“The thief sold it to a fellow who later saw the report on the news and brought the sword back to us,” he explained.

Helmick said the man waited at the shop for Anchorage police officers to arrive and told them what happened. 

The sword was slightly damaged.

He said the shop’s staffers are thankful this odd situation wasn’t worse and that they all got a chuckle out of it. 

“Maybe it’s because this is the first burglary I’ve had to personally deal with, but the whole situation was a bit odd,” he said. “We’re all thankful that it wasn’t a lot worse and that, in the end, we were all able to get a chuckle out of it.”