Bullet Train actor Ray Buffer is ‘caught on surveillance video stuffing hundreds of dollars worth of rare comics up his SHIRT in two stores’ – cops investigate as he denies it
- Embattled C-lister Ray Buffer, 53, has been accused by two California comic book shops of shoplifting hundreds of dollars worth of comics
- Security footage from both stores appears to show the actor engaging in the act
- Southern California Comics first leveled the accusations last week, posting footage of a bearded Buffer stuffing his shirt with multiple books September 29
- The price of the collectibles, the store said in a scathing post the next day, amounted to more than $600 – spurring the store to file a report with SDPD
- Staffers have since handed over the evidence to police, including other footage they say shows a husky Buffer holding the books
- The store also says that Buffer – a character actor who appeared on Curb Your Enthusiasm and ER in the early 2000s – is a repeat offender
- In addition to footage of Buffer’s alleged boost last week, the store posted footage of the star getting caught by a staffer at a LA store the week prior
Embattled actor Ray Buffer has been accused by two California comic book shops of shoplifting hundreds of dollars worth of comics – and security footage from both stores appears to show the small-time star engaging in the act.
Southern California Comics first leveled the accusations last week, posting footage of the bearded man confirmed to be as Buffer stuffing his shirt with multiple books on September 29.
The price of the collectibles, the store said in a scathing post the next day, amounted to more than $600 – spurring the store to file a police report with SDPD.
Staffers have since handed over the evidence to police, including other footage they say shows Buffer holding the books.
The store also says that Buffer – a 53-year-old actor who appeared on Curb Your Enthusiasm and ER in the early 2000s but has since been relegated to a career of commercials and contract work at local theme parks – is a repeat offender.
In addition to footage of Buffer’s alleged boost last week, the store posted footage of the fallen star getting caught red-handed by a staffer in a similar incident at an LA comic store the week prior.
The video, which reportedly was captured by staffers at Metropolis Comics in Bellflower, shows the the owner confronting Buffer after appearing to see him pull the same move, pointing out that he was on camera.
That incident saw the downtrodden actor – who has a bit part in the recently released Brad Pitt flick Bullet Train – put the comics back and leave as the owner threatened to call police.
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Embattled C-lister Ray Buffer has been accused by two California comic book shops of shoplifting hundreds of dollars worth of comics. Security footage from both stores appears to show the small-time actor, who appeared on Curb and ER in the 2000s, engaging in the act
After failing to hit it big in Hollywood, Buffer has worked a variety of odd theater and acting gigs in recent years such as musical theater and commercials
Buffer- who supplements his flailing acting career with gigs as a contract Santa and freelance graphic design – has since deleted all of his social media accounts, and claims that his being harassed by the store owners.
‘PSA,’ staffers at Den Diego Comics wrote in the initial post from last Friday, showing Buffer, wearing a bright green polo and long gray bears, shoplifting.
At that point, staffers had yet to identify the husky culprit as Buffer, who lives in Long Beach.
‘This guy stole from us yesterday by shoving a stack of golden age comics under his shirt. Please contact us if you have any info on him. Thanks comic community!’ staffers wrote, asking for any prospective leads in IDing the thief.
Later that day, they would finger Buffer as the offender – and urged followers on the store’s Facebook page to reach out to the the actor, who for the past two decades as largely appeared in local musical theater productions and singsong commercials where he dresses as Santa.
The post further asserted that it has been the target of repeat strikes from shoplifters since the pandemic, and has been forced to employ a security guard to cover their losses, after revealing the books stolen by Buffer were worth more than $600.
‘Folks,’ the post began, ‘We are forced to make a change in the store’s accountability. As most of you know, we have dealt with a burglary attempt, a costly burglary and consistent shoplifting.
‘Try as we might, the shoplifting continues, despite all our security upgrades. If this is a continued example of rampant crime and theft that seems to have begun with the pandemic, we want off the “victim train.”
‘We now have to post a guard at the most sensitive portion of the store, the older back-issues, whenever that area is occupied by customers,’ the post contineud. ‘We simply can’t afford not to.
‘I’m posting this announcement to let my customers know what we have to do in these stressful times for businesses.
We get very infrequent social network posts that complain about our tough stance on protecting our inventory.
‘This post is my polite attempt to get in front of those future customers that respond with hostility, seem to reject the everyday news stories that tell the countrywide tales of the stress on the backs of businesses.’
They than added that they ‘identified’ the man who ‘shoved comics up his shirt yesterday’ as Buffer. ‘Visit him at his FB page,’ store operators wrote, linking to Buffer’s then-active profile.
In another post, staffers wrote: ‘Our camera captured him stealing comics by concealing them in his shirt. We discovered the crime and watched the surveillance video until we saw this. We are sending all the info over to the police.’
The store went on to repost the actor’s Facebook profile, as well as his personal email. The post, published on Thursday, also saw the store worker say that had already been in contact with Buffer, who has denied stealing the books – and has gone as far as to accuse the store of harassing him.
‘We offered him the choice of either returning our property (we know what he took because an earlier part of the video has him holding the books) or we turn it over to the law,’ the scathing update from the store read.
‘He emailed us and claimed we are harassing him. Yes we are.’
The next day, on Friday, the store followed up with another update – on that asserted that Buffer was responsible for another shoplifting incident at a comic shop more than 100 miles south in Los Angeles exactly a week before the San Diego strike.
The reported offense was also caught on camera, and shows a man that appears to be Buffer shoving another issue into his pants, under his shirt, as his back is to the store’s owner, seated at her desk in the background.
However, unbeknownst to Buffer, thanks to the well placed camera, the woman was wise to the thief’s antics, and was apparently watching him via a surveillance feed from her desktop.
After Buffer conceals the book, the woman gets up and confronts him, letting him know that the camera saw everything, despite the actor’s repeated denials.
‘I saw that,’ the woman says, polite but visibly irate, in the Los Angeles clip, before asking for the book back. ‘Can I get my book back? Are you stuffing your pants?’
The actor denies the woman’s accusations, until she points out the camera directly above him. ‘I have a camera on each angle,’ the staffer tells Buffer, who continues to insist he’s innocent.
The woman then rushes to seemingly call the police, where at which point Buffer attempts to ditch the stolen goods from under his shirt into a display bin when he thinks the staffer isn’t looking.
However, she notices, and he is again caught on camera.
‘I need you to leave the store now,’ the woman says in the clip. It is not clear if the store, like San Diego Comics, further pursued the incident legally.
DailyMail.com reached out to Buffer by email on Sunday for more information on the allegations, but did not immediately hear back.
In addition to the recent Pitt flick – one of few Hollywood credits to the actor’s name in the past decade – Buffer has worked a variety of odd theater and acting gigs in recent years such as musical theater and commercials that often contain a singing element.
In 2019, he appeared as a caroler in a National Commercial for Capital One and Walmart – in which he is featured for about three seconds as a caroler.
Since then, he’s done voice acting roles for The American Red Cross and to promote a Santa Cam for Yankee Candle, for which the white-bearded actor also appeared as Santa in a commercial.
Santa seems to have become Buffer’s typecast role in his twilight years after failing to hit it big after a small role on Curb’s fourth season 18 years ago.
‘Now that I am older,’ Buffer said in a recent intervie, ‘I’ve been doing personal appearances as Santa including parades, sometimes with my own facial hair.’
Police are currently investigating the San Diego incident.
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