Lego Sets – New Target of Retail Theft Rings in Southern California, Across Country

Two people suspected in a series of organized retail thefts of Lego toys from multiple stores were taken into custody following a months-long investigation, police said Thursday,

Richard Siegel, 71, of Long Beach, was arrested Wednesday night on suspicion of organized retail theft, while Blanca Gudino, 39, of Lawndale, was arrested Thursday morning on suspicion of grand theft.

Siegel was released on his own recognizance, but Gudino was being held in lieu of $20,000 bail, according to jail records.

According to the Los Angeles Police Department, detectives have been investigating a series of theft cases that began in December when Lego products were stolen from a store on North Gaffey Street in San Pedro.

During that heist, loss-prevention personnel at the store identified Gudino as the suspect.

Police said they observed Gudino allegedly stealing items from the Torrance and Lakewood locations of the same retail businesses on Tuesday. Gudino then allegedly took the Lego products to Siegel’s home in Long Beach.

Detectives raided Siegel’s home on Wednesday, seizing more than 2,800 boxes of Lego products, police said. Authorities said the products ranged in price from $20 to more than $1,000.

Police noted that while officers were still investigating the case at Siegel’s home, “potential buyers of the toys arrived, lured by advertisements placed by Siegel on internet sales sites.”

The LAPD did not identify the retailer targeted by the pair.

The Los Angeles Times reported this week that more than $100,000 in Lego products had been stolen from a half-dozen Bricks & Minifigs stores across Southern California in recent months.

Bricks & Minifigs is a national Lego reseller with locations in San Diego County and across the state.

According to the report, a location in Riverside was burglarized April 3, along with another in Ontario on April 12, Whittier on May 3, Irvine on May 9 and Costa Mesa and Fullerton on June 1.

There was no immediate indication of a connection between those thefts and Siegel or Gudino.

The owner of the Whittier store told The Times that the culprits who committed the burglaries were two men – one who broke into the stores and the other who acted as a getaway driver.

The publication reported that similar burglaries targeting Legos have been tracked in other cities, including Las Vegas, Philadelphia and Green Bay, Wisc.

– City News Service