A pair of thieves have stolen more than $100,000 worth of collectible Lego figures and kits from stores across Southern California, according to local reports.
At least six Bricks and Minifigs locations — reselling businesses owned by individuals and not corporations — have been targeted by the duo from April through this month, NBC4 Los Angeles reported.
One of the store owners caught the thieves in action on their security cameras after they broke through the front glass early in the morning of May 3.
The footage shows a man wearing a mask, hood and headlamp breaking a hole in the glass storefront of the Bricks and Minifigs in Whittier and crawling through with a trash bag he proceeded to fill with expensive Lego collectibles, store owner Katie Leuscher told the Los Angeles Times.
The thieves targeted six Bricks & Minifigs stores across Southern California between April and June. Katie LeuschnerAnother man served as the getaway driver and together the pair took off with about $10,000 in merchandise, Leuscher said.
“We’re a specialty store for people trying to find the Lego set from when they were younger — the things that we do have can’t be easily replenished,” Leuschner, 44, told the newspaper. “They’re not stealing big box sets. They’re stealing mini figures, and those individual guys go for $500 to $600 apiece, so they’re easily stolen and resold for a quick profit.”
Some rare Lego items can fetch several thousand dollars a piece.
Leuschner has since been in constant contact with other Bricks and Minifigs store owners.
The duo stole more than $100,000 worth of Legos from the different stores. Google MapsThe Lego thieves struck a Riverside location on April 3, an Ontario location on April 12, an Irvine location on May 9 and both a Costa Mesa and a Fullerton location on June 1, according to Leuscher.
“There are other stores that haven’t been hit yet, but they know [they’re] gonna be the next target,” she told the Times. “We’re all independently owned and just trying to raise families, and you’ve got these people coming in making it harder for the rest of the community.”
The store owners have reported the alleged theft ring to cops.
“We’re all independently owned and just trying to raise families, and you’ve got these people coming in making it harder for the rest of the community,” Leuscher said. Bricks and Minifigs Lego Store Costa MesaIn April, California Highway Patrol investigators arrested four people in Los Angeles and Orange counties for a similar series of Lego thefts in southern California.
Those thieves were accused of stealing $300,000 worth of Lego sets from big box stores like Target, Home Depot and Lowe’s — which they resold.
It’s unclear if the cases are linked. California Highway Patrol didn’t immediately return a request for more information.
