Police build a case against Lego gang: Thieves steal $300,000 worth of ... trends now
Police in California have charged four people following the theft of $300,000 worth of Lego sets from Target, Home Depot and Lowe's stores.
Three men and one woman, aged from 35 to 57, from Los Angeles were charged with organized retail theft, grand theft and conspiracy to commit a crime, according to the California Highway Patrol (CHP).
The group were identified as Jeremy Johnson, 44, of Orange, Marta Hardt of Huntington, 39, Chung-Pei Yu, 47, of Studio City, and Shen Li, 35, of Brea.
They are accused of stealing hundreds of boxes of high-value Lego sets from across several popular stores across California, with two of the suspects believed to have acted as 'boosters'.
This means they would have stolen directly from the retailers before stashing the stolen toys in four different houses across Los Angeles and Orange counties.
The thieves would then ship off the stolen Legos to separate 'fences' - which are people who buy stolen goods to then sell at 'seemingly legitimate businesses, swap meets, or online', cops said.
Lego sets that California authorities say were stolen for resale are pictured
Shocking images shared by the CHP show stacks of Lego boxes piled up against walls and on crates, just waiting to be sold
Buyers may also not be aware that the Lego they would have purchased 'were stolen as part of an organized retail crime operation'.
Shocking images shared by the CHP show stacks of Lego boxes piled up against walls and on crates, just waiting to be sold.
Within the mountains of boxes, some popular names can be spotted including Lego Icons and Ideas to
