The Orange County Criminal Lawyer Blog
The owner of a store in Seattle is facing charges after allegedly taking part in a theft scheme involving more than $10,000 in stolen LEGO sets.
Last July, the authorities were alerted about a string of thefts taking place at a store in downtown Seattle. The suspect reportedly stole pricey LEGO sets each time they came into the establishment.
Most of the sets were from the Star Wars “Mandalorian” collection. The store estimated the value of the allegedly stolen goods at over $10,000.
An investigation entitled “Operation: MandalOrganized Retail Theft” was opened by the authorities.
An employee from the store that was allegedly stolen from said he was hanging out downtown when he saw what was believed to be the missing LEGO sets in a nearby store.
He checked the items that were purportedly stolen and found that they had RFID tags. He believed this supported the claim that they had been stolen, and he gave the information to the authorities.
A detective went to the location that the employee reported, and while they were inside the establishment, someone allegedly entered and made a LEGO sale to the store. The seller was purported to be the suspect they were seeking for the thefts.
The authorities continued the undercover investigation at the location with the discovered LEGO sets. It continued until they collected what they believed was enough evidence to prove that the owner knew the goods they were selling were stolen.
The police obtained a warrant, and on October 15, they confiscated 171 LEGO sets from the establishment.
The store that reported the thefts believes that 34 of the sets had been stolen from them.
The allegedly offending store owner was taken into custody and booked into the King County Jail for suspicion of trafficking in stolen property.
If you or someone you love is suspected of a theft offense, contact Orange County criminal defense lawyer Staycie R. Sena at (949) 477-8088 for a consultation now.