According to local reports, a duo of thieves stole more than $100,000 worth of Lego figures and kits from stores across Southern California.
Between April and this month, the duo targeted at least six Bricks & Minifigures stores, a resale business owned by an individual rather than a corporation. NBC4 Los Angeles reported.
One of the store owners said he captured the perpetrators on security camera as they broke into the store by smashing the front glass in the early hours of May 3rd.
The video shows a man wearing a mask, hoodie and headlamp cutting a hole in the glass storefront of Bricks & Minifigures in Whittier, crawling in with garbage bags and stuffing them with his pricey Lego collection, according to store owner Katie Reuscher. He told the Los Angeles Times.
Another man served as the getaway driver, and together the two fled with about $10,000 worth of items, Leuscher said.
“We are a specialty store for people looking for Lego sets from their childhood, and we can’t easily replenish our stock,” Leuschner, 44, told the paper. “It’s not the big boxed sets that are being stolen. It’s the minifigures, which go for $500 to $600 each. They are easily stolen and resold for a quick profit.”
Some rare LEGO products can go for thousands of dollars each.
Since then, Leuschner has stayed in constant contact with other Bricks & Minifigures store owners.
Lego thieves hit the Riverside store on April 3, the Ontario store on April 12, the Irvine store on May 9 and the Costa Mesa and Fullerton stores on June 1, according to Reuscher.
“Some stores have not yet been affected, [they’re] “They’re going to be the next target,” she told The Times. “We’re all independent businesses, we’re just trying to provide for our families, and these people come in and make life difficult for the rest of the community.”
The store owners reported the suspected thieves to police.
In April, California Highway Patrol investigators Four people arrested Arrests have been made in Los Angeles and Orange counties in connection with a series of similar Lego thefts across Southern California.
The thieves are accused of stealing and reselling $300,000 worth of Lego sets from big box stores including Target, Home Depot and Lowe’s.
It is unclear whether the incidents are related. The California Highway Patrol did not immediately respond to a request for more information.
