Thieves target several SoCal LEGO shops in string of burglaries

COSTA MESA, Calif. (KABC) -- Thousands of dollars in merchandise has been stolen from several different Southern California Bricks & Minifigs stores, which specialize in LEGO products, and owners believe the same person is responsible for the crimes.

Eyewitness News obtained surveillance video from several of the incidents involving the toy retailer.

The thief reportedly started his or her crime spree in April at a Bricks & Minifigs store in Ontario and brought another person along.

The video shows the two suspects grabbing different products and putting them in boxes. One of them is pulling products from shelves while the other is behind the counter taking items from cases.

The thief also appeared to target a store in Riverside and another in Whittier.

The Bricks & Minifigs in Whittier lost about $10,000, which covered the cost of replacing store windows and other damage.

The suspect also hit a store in Irvine and most recently tried getting into stores in Anaheim and Costa Mesa, but only caused damage to windows at those locations.

One store owner believes the same suspect is involved.

"Stores are trying to work together to bolster up that security to put more cameras and more alarms and more security gates, but it's hard when we're a mom-and pop shop," said Katie Leuschner. "We're all raising families and we're all trying to run our own stores and make it great for the community, and then you have people like this that really put a damper on things."

About $100,000 worth of products have been stolen so far.

Bricks & Minifigs sells new and used LEGO products such as minifigures, sets, bricks and accessories and has more than a dozen locations in Southern California.

Anyone with information on the string of break-ins is urged to contact police.