Where did all the Lego’s go?
Richard Siegel, 71, from Long Beach and Blanca Gudino, 39, from Lawndale seemed to have a pretty clean business going. You have heard that in California theft of less than $950 is not really prosecuted. In fact, police rarely will chase a thief for stealing a toy. Knowing this, the team pieced together a plan to make money on the most famous toys in the world. Security camera video from the “Bricks and Minifigs” in Whittier captured an early morning burglary from May 3. It showed a man wearing a headlamp smashing the front glass window and entering the business with a trash bag. About 30 miles away, another Bricks and Minifigs in Ontario was targeted in a similar crime. The Ontario shop owner said a man broke in through a window April 12 and grabbed the priciest items within minutes. “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 said. “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.”
On June 4, police said they witnessed Gudino allegedly stealing LEGO products from Target stores in Torrance and Lakewood. She would then drop off the merchandise at Siegel’s home in Long Beach. The next day, a search warrant was served at the Long Beach home where officers discovered over 2,800 boxes of stolen LEGO toy sets. Photos of the massive bust show countless rows of LEGO boxes stored on shelves that took over the living room in a warehouse-like fashion. Most of the stolen toys were collector’s items or expensive sets. The individual retail value for each item ranged anywhere between $20 to over $1,000, LAPD said. Among the stolen sets were collectible Star Wars, Ninjago, Harry Potter, Technic vehicles, LEGO Architecture, Marvel, Minecraft, special pop-culture editions and more.
One of the stolen items even appeared to be a demo set housed in a plexiglass that is typically displayed inside a store. While staking out Siegel’s residence, police witnessed potential toy buyers arriving at the home, brought in by advertisements that Siegel had posted online. Siegel was arrested on charges of organized retail theft and Gudino was arrested for grand theft. This bust follows similar thefts targeting Lego sellers throughout Southern California. During those incidents, thieves smashed their way into multiple stores before escaping with around $100,000 worth of LEGO toys. The problem is not new nor unique to California. As far back as 2018, an Oregon man was arrested for possessing approximately $50,000 worth of stolen Legos in his home.
So far, no foot injuries have been reported.
Toy thieves
A thief stuck a pistol in a man’s ribs and said, “Give me your money.” The gentleman, shocked by the sudden attack, said: “You cannot do this, I’m a United States congressman!”
The thief said, “In that case, give me my money!”
To the thief who stole my anti-depressants,
I hope you’re happy now.
The Lego store near my house just reopened after the robbery…
People were lining up for blocks.
Did you hear about LEGO mini figures protesting?
Block Lives Matter!
June 19th Birthdays
1958 – Phylicia Rashad, 1962 – Paula Abdul, 1963 – Laura Ingraham, 1976 – Casey Hanisko,
1964 – Boris Johnson, 1978 – Dirk Nowitzki, 1690 – Giancomo Gianniotti, 1947 – Salman Rushdie