{"id":2218314,"date":"2024-04-11T11:12:02","date_gmt":"2024-04-11T15:12:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/california-police-arrest-4-recover-300000-in-stolen-legos-after-busting-retail-theft-ring\/"},"modified":"2024-04-11T11:15:31","modified_gmt":"2024-04-11T15:15:31","slug":"california-police-arrest-4-recover-300000-in-stolen-legos-after-busting-retail-theft-ring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/california-police-arrest-4-recover-300000-in-stolen-legos-after-busting-retail-theft-ring\/","title":{"rendered":"California police detained 4 suspects and seized $300,000 worth of stolen Legos by dismantling a retail theft operation"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">36<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fcalifornia-police-arrest-4-recover-300000-in-stolen-legos-after-busting-retail-theft-ring%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2218314&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The California Highway Patrol apprehended four suspects and recovered approximately $300,000\u2062 worth\u2063 of stolen Lego\u200b merchandise \u200bby dismantling a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/lapd-makes-18-arrests-in-massive-organized-retail-theft-ring-after-new-sheriff-sworn-in\/\" title=\"LAPD Makes 18 Arrests in Massive Organized Retail Theft Ring After New Sheriff Sworn In\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/pennsylvania-woman-allegedly-faked-her-own-death-to-avoid-being-charged-with-making-a-false-accusation-of-sexual-assault\/\" title=\"Pennsylvania Woman Allegedly Faked Her Own Death To Avoid Being Charged With Making A False Accusation Of Sexual Assault\">retail theft<\/a> ring<\/a>.\u2063 The suspects were involved in stealing Legos from stores like Target \u2063and selling them to fences for resale. This operation was part of a\u2062 retail crime task force aiming to tackle increasing theft in California. The \u200bCalifornia Highway\u2064 Patrol\u200c arrested \u2062four individuals and seized nearly $300,000 in stolen \u2063Lego products after disrupting a retail theft operation. The culprits were responsible for\u200b stealing Legos \u2063from various\u200c retailers, including Target, and selling them to middlemen\u200d for \u200cprofit. This crackdown was carried out \u200das part of a broader effort by a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/4-women-killed-in-multicar-crash-on-pacific-coast-highway-in-malibu-police-say\/\" title=\"4 women died in a multicar crash on Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, according to police.\">retail \u200ccrime task force<\/a> \u2062to combat rising \u2062theft incidents in California.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p>The California Highway Patrol recovered around $300,000 in stolen Lego merchandise this week after busting a retail theft ring.<\/p>\n<p>CHP officials served search warrants on Tuesday and arrested four people involved in the ring, who would steal Legos from Target and other retailers in Southern California and sell them to fences \u2013 people or groups that buy stolen products and resell them, NBC Los Angeles <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbclosangeles.com\/local-2\/300000-in-stolen-lego-merchandise-recovered-by-chp\/3384730\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reported<\/a>. Often these fences sell the stolen merchandise to legitimate businesses or online and at swap meets. Fences may not even know the products they purchased are stolen, the outlet noted.<\/p>\n<p>Jeremy Johnson, 44, of Orange, California; Marta Hardt, 39, of Huntington Beach; Chung-Pei Yu, 47, of Studio City; and Shen Li, 35, of Brea, were arrested as part of the bust, ABC 7 <a href=\"https:\/\/abc7.com\/lego-theft-bust-chp-retail-crime-task-force\/14643660\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reported<\/a>. The four were booked on charges of theft and conspiracy.<\/p>\n<p>CHP officers made the bust as part of a retail crime task force that has been working to reduce the increasing number of retail thefts in California.<\/p>\n<p>Retailers who were the victims of this ring estimate their total losses somewhere around $300,000.<\/p>\n<p>Photos of the bust show numerous Lego sets, ABC News <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/100059306690876\/photos\/822340856419463\/?paipv=0&#038;eav=Afb9q_mX5qoJJz_SV3LurDzGCQaW01K2Vu7pBaxMUHBcdsR5W5rpxUExl0FP3fhedmE&#038;_rdr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Many Star Wars Lego sets, such as the Millennium Falcon, can retail for around $900, NBC reported, adding that photos it received of the bust showed dozens of that particular set and other rare Lego products.<\/p>\n<p>Late last year, a top Home Depot executive <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/home-depot-exec-describes-soaring-violent-threats-from-shoplifters-in-congressional-testimony\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">testified<\/a> before a congressional panel about the increasing threat of shoplifting. Scott Glenn, head of loss prevention at Home Depot, said the company had seen a \u201csignificant uptick\u201d in situations where employees come into \u201cviolent contact with bad actors.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In April 2023, a woman fatally shot a Home Depot security guard while stealing a phone charger. She fled the scene in a vehicle driven by her boyfriend while her two-year-old child was in the backseat. In 2022, an elderly Home Depot worker was killed after a shoplifter shoved him to the ground.<\/p>\n<p><b><a href=\"https:\/\/onelink.to\/dwapp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" aria-describedby=\"sk-tooltip-9096\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/onelink.to\/dwapp&#038;source=gmail&#038;ust=1700760801843000&#038;usg=AOvVaw2PQrVSrJfhxNb4LcARqniG\">CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n<p>California, in particular, is struggling with retail theft, with some stores taking extreme measures to combat the crimes. Supermarket chain Safeway, for example, has installed exit gates at the self-checkout lanes in some of its San Francisco stores, while one Walgreens went so far as to put chains across its freezers.<\/p>\n<p>California has become known for smash-and-grabs, where thieves enter a store, smash display cases to steal items, and leave quickly. At one Pasadena jewelry store, thieves made off with nearly $500,000 in merchandise in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/another-california-smash-and-grab-sees-thieves-make-off-with-half-a-million-dollars-in-jewelry\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">one incident<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Many attribute the increase in retail theft in California to a statewide ballot measure approved by voters almost ten years ago that reduced thefts of property valued under $950 from felonies to misdemeanors.<\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The California Highway Patrol seized approximately $300,000 in stolen Lego items this week. Following the dismantling of a retail theft ring, CHP officials executed search warrants on Tuesday, apprehending four individuals involved in the scheme. The suspects would pilfer Legos from stores like Target in Southern California and then distribute them to fences for resale<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":126,"featured_media":2218315,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/dw-wp-production.imgix.net\/2024\/04\/GettyImages-1832845704-scaled.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[541],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2218314","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-daily-wire"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/dw-wp-production.imgix.net\/2024\/04\/GettyImages-1832845704-scaled.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2218314","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/126"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2218314"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2218314\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2218315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2218314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2218314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2218314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}