Four people arrested for stealing $300,000 worth of LEGO sets

Authorities in Southern California have arrested four people for allegedly stealing at least $300,000 worth of LEGO sets.

According to the California Highway Patrol, the suspects – aged from 35 to 47 – lifted the LEGO sets from stores including Target, then divided them between four different stash houses across Los Angeles and Orange counties. The report also mentions Lowe’s and Home Depot, though neither of those stores appears to actually stock LEGO.

Investigators said the suspects were involved in stealing the LEGO sets and selling them on to ‘fences’, a term that here refers to people who buy stolen goods and sell them on to the public through seemingly legitimate means, such as swap meets and websites.

Images released by the CHP show hundreds of sets piled up waiting to be sold on, covering everything from LEGO Icons and Ideas to Star Wars, City and Minecraft. In one shot, you can see dozens of copies of the brand new LEGO Star Wars March 2024 releases, including 75375 Millennium Falcon and 75376 Tantive IV, forming what looks like a tribute to a LEGO stock room.

Suspects Jeremy Johnson, Shen Li, Chung-Pei Yu and Marta Hardt were booked by the CHP on charges of conspiracy and theft, as part of a wider crackdown on retail thefts. This isn’t the first time thieves have turned to bricks for their latest score – previous incidents can be charted across the globe, from Germany and the UK to Australia and the US – but it is one of the biggest operations in recent memory.

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