By Tim Fitzsimons – NBC News
An operation focused on the theft of Lego sets was dismantled “block by block” after the owner of a toy store in Seattle was surprised selling stolen items that were valued at thousands of dollars, police said this week.
The Seattle Police Department announced the raid on Monday and revealed the details of its investigation which was called “Operation: Mandal Organized Retail Theft” because Lego sets inspired by The Mandalorian, the Star Wars series, were stolen frequently.
A King County prosecutor charged 67-year-old Mark Steven Brady with one count of trafficking in stolen property for reselling stolen merchandise at his store, Rummage Around.
[Se disparan los robos de una parte esencial de los autos estacionados tras el aumento del precio de metales raros]
Brady told NBC News on Friday that he had not yet been prosecuted and that his court-appointed attorney had not yet contacted him, but he declined to comment further.
Trafficking in stolen property is a serious crime in the state of Washington, whose maximum penalty is 10 years in prison or a fine of $ 20,000, or both.
Police said they began investigating after Amazon 4-Star, a store owned by the retail giant, reported in July that they had been subjected to repeated robberies.
Between July and September, a thief allegedly stole about $ 10,000 worth of games and electronic devices from the store, according to a criminal complaint.
Then, in September, an Amazon 4-Star employee visited Rummage Around, a store located in the downtown Pike Place Market, and noticed that the Lego sets for sale appeared to match the stolen items.
“The worker notified the police and a detective went to the store to investigate. While the officer was on the premises, the thief arrived and sold several items to the owner of the store, ”the police wrote in their criminal record.
[Se robó una ambulancia para ir a un hospital mientras sufría “una emergencia médica”, según las autoridades]
The labels on the items matched those of the stolen store, officers said.
Police say their October investigation, which involved the deployment of plainclothes detectives who sold branded merchandise to Brady, revealed that the store owner allegedly knew he was buying stolen goods to resell them.
Police were unable to arrest the “prolific shoplifter” who is accused of stealing the $ 10,000 worth of merchandise.
After receiving a search warrant on October 15, authorities went to Rummage Around and recovered numerous electronic devices and 171 Lego sets, 34 of which were confirmed as owned by Amazon 4-Star and have been valued at more than $ 2,000.
–
