Law enforcement officers successfully cracked this case.
An extensive Lego theft ring was uncovered by Oregon police, who captured astonishing drone footage of large quantities of the colorful toys neatly packed in their boxes from above. Watch the video here.
Over 4,150 stolen sets of the plastic building blocks, valued at around $200,000, were confiscated from the Brick Builders shop in Eugene, as reported by the Springfield Police Department on Tuesday.
Ammon Henrikson, the owner of the Lego-focused toy store, is accused of knowingly purchasing the unopened sets from thieves who stole them from popular chain stores like Target, Fred Meyer, and Walmart, according to authorities.
A police source informed kezi.com that Henrikson might have been directing the suspects to steal specific Lego sets from the retail outlets.
The stolen items included high-quality branded sets with themes such as the souped-up DeLorean car from “Back to the Future,” the custom ambulance from “Ghostbusters,” which can fetch up to $230, and the Millenium Falcon from “Star Wars.”
During the three-month investigation, police observed thieves stealing expensive Lego sets from stores and then heading straight to Brick Builders, stated law enforcement officials.
Sergeant Kyle Potter mentioned, “We would watch people go into the store with Lego and come out with cash in hand. At that point we would stop people, we’d talk to them and they’d tell us exactly what they did.”
The Lego thieves were forthcoming about the operation because “they were usually disgruntled on the amount of cash they got,” Potter revealed.
“It was pennies on the dollars for what it was actually worth!” he added.
According to authorities, many of the suspects promptly spent the cash on illegal drugs.
Dramatic drone footage showed boxes of the toys, including pricey race car sets, stacked over five feet high and stretching dozens of feet outside the police department.
Henrikson and his partner Albert Nash were charged with organized retail theft on July 3.
