An alleged Lego thief’s master plan has fallen to pieces after Los Angeles police confiscated more than 2,800 stolen sets of the popular building bricks and figures from his home.
Richard Siegel, 71, and his alleged partner in crime, Blanca Gudino, 39, were paid a visit by the Los Angeles police department’s (LAPD) Harbor division at Siegel’s home in Long Beach. The home was raided and thousands of boxes of Lego merchandise were discovered, the police said on Wednesday.
Police said each individual Lego set ranges in value from $20 to “well over $1,000”.
In a press release, LAPD said they became aware of a series of Lego burglaries from a store in San Pedro in December last year, and since then have witnessed Gudino steal from retailers in Torrance and Lakewood and drop the merchandise off at Siegel’s home.
“Detectives from LAPD’s commercial crimes division, organized retail theft unit, as well as members of the retailer’s loss prevention personnel, assisted with the recovery of the Lego toys,” the release said. “During the officers’ investigation at Siegel’s residence, potential buyers of the toys arrived, lured by advertisements placed by Siegel on internet sale sites.”
Lego sets are in high demand, not just among parents, but adult collectors, too. There has even been a growing black market for the bricks in recent years for those who know the resale value of these toys, some of which become collectibles after getting discontinued.
California highway police arrested three men and a woman in April in connection to the theft of Lego sets worth a combined $300,000. Some stolen sets included the 921-piece Millennium Falcon worth $85 each, the 6,167-piece Lord of the Rings Rivendell set worth $500 each, and the 1,458-piece Porsche 911 set worth $170 each.
French police announced in 2021 that they began building a case against an international gang of toy thieves specializing in Legos.
Lego did not respond to a request for comment.
