Cops Pose Before a $200,000 Mountain of Allegedly Stolen Lego Sets

An Oregon man’s Lego concern is successful pieces aft a vacation play raid by constabulary successful Eugene. According to the Springfield Police Department’s Facebook page, a three-month probe into organized retail theft led them to a concern called Brick Builders wherever it recovered much than 4,000 allegedly stolen, and often rare, Lego sets worthy implicit $200,000.

Brick Builders was a third-party Lego store that sold sets and idiosyncratic pieces to collectors. Lego sets bid premium prices and person go fashionable capable that determination are galore autarkic stores operating crossed the United States.

Brick Builders first opened successful 2017 and gained a estimation arsenic a spot to drawback hard-to-find sets. According to the Springfield cops, immoderate of that inventory was stolen from section stores similar Target and Barnes & Noble.

Springfield Police Department Photo via its Facebook.

America is successful a moral panic implicit shoplifting. In the past fewer years, retailers person self-reported that theft is up successful their stores but the realities person been hard to quantify. Regardless of the existent numbers, fears implicit shoplifting person caused cops to refocus connected it. Which is what happened successful Springfield, Oregon.

Bigger retail outlets person dedicated nonaccomplishment prevention professionals who show the store for theft and analyse crimes. They aren’t cops themselves, but often spouse with them. According to the Springfield Police Department, the Brick Builders bust began aft they partnered with nonaccomplishment prevention unit from Target, Fred Meyer, and Barnes & Noble. They noticed radical were stealing a batch of Lego sets from those locations and followed them to Brick Builders wherever they’d allegedly unload the merchandise.

Springfield Police Department Photo via its Facebook.

According to the cops, the thieves would merchantability the ample and costly sets to employees astatine Brick Builders, often for a fraction of their retail value. “That store had each azygous happening you could ever privation Legowise but you would wage premium prices. I lone stumped them connected 2 pieces erstwhile I would effort to decorativeness sets off. Any Lego instrumentality could find a acceptable they would drool over,” a commenter successful the Lego subreddit said successful effect to the news. “BUT helium was precise hard to woody with. I americium a small amazed by this though. Not definite however helium thought helium wouldn’t get caught.”

The cops posted the haul connected Facebook, posing successful beforehand of a upland of Legos. The store’s proprietor and 1 worker were charged with Organized Retail Theft and Theft I, receiving stolen merchandise. Both charges precocious had their maximum penalties and purview accrued successful Oregon, partially successful effect to fears implicit accrued theft successful the area.

The Organized Theft Charge unsocial carries a imaginable two-year situation sentence. “We each consciousness the interaction of organized retail theft done the expanding outgo of items we bargain for our families,” the Springfield Police said successful a connection connected its Facebook page.