LEGO thieves arrested after attempt to steal LEGO Star Wars and Super Mario haul

15/01/202515/01/2025 Rachael Davies 1091 Views 0 Comments

LEGO shoplifting sees an ‘upturn’ in Lancaster, as two alleged LEGO thieves are arrested by local police for handling stolen goods.

Two arrests have been made in Lancaster after an ‘upturn’ of shoplifting in certain shops, after local police recovered a large quantity of stolen LEGO sets. The first arrest was made for a man allegedly handling stolen goods recovered from an address on Lancaster’s the Vale, while the second was made elsewhere in Lancaster as more sets were found.

The stolen sets included LEGO Star Wars and Super Mario, taken from GAME and The Entertainer in St Nicholas Arcades during the Christmas period. Detective Inspector Adie Knowles discussed the arrests on Beyond Radio on Tuesday, January 14, noting ‘an upturn’ in such crimes.

“Generally speaking shoplifting has been on the rise for a little while, and usually towards the festive period there is an upturn,” he said. “Specifically in Lancaster, we had an upturn in certain shops, with a large quantity of LEGO being stolen from a couple of city centre shops.

“We conducted a warrant under the Theft Act and recovered quite a lot of LEGO at an address on the Vale where a chap was arrested for handling stolen goods. Then we made a further arrest in Lancaster and recovered further quantities of LEGO. They were arrested for handling stolen goods.”

Det Insp Knowles went on to describe the police’s Operation Vulture, a scheme in place to tackle shoplifting and protect local businesses. In 2023, the detection rate on catching people was 18% but rose to 43% in 2024.

“We’re trying to do our bit to try to keep businesses safe,” he concluded. “Having (community beat manager) PC Shaun Foster in the city centre is a great addition to the team. He likes being out on foot and local businesses and Lancaster BID will speak to him on a daily basis. It’s that visible presence, trying to keep businesses safe.”

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