We’re used to seeing photos of police standing in front of criminal stashes of drugs and guns so when officers in Oregon posted pictures of themselves standing in front of thousands of Lego boxes, it caught the internet’s attention.
The Springfield Police Department shared the amusing images to its Facebook and Instagram accounts showing boxes and boxes of Lego being loaded into a van as they were being impounded to the evidence locker.
The cops even employed a drone to get an overhead view of the massive haul of Lego as well as throwing in a few funny pictures of a Lego cops and robbers set that has a toy criminal being handcuffed.
Although the photos are amusing in nature, the story behind the bust is quite serious.
The sting followed a three-month operation in which the Crime Reduction Unit had uncovered evidence that a toy store called “Brick Builders” had been knowingly purchasing stolen Lego boxes.
According to police, the store’s owner, Ammon Henrikson, had been buying the new and unopened sets from suspects who had been swiping Lego sets from shops like Target, Fred Meyer, Barnes & Noble, and Walmart.
Henrikson had apparently been paying the shoplifters a fraction of what the Lego boxes retail for and officers learned that those suspects were using the money to buy illegal drugs.
On July 3, the Springfield Police Department served a search warrant at the premises of Brick Builders in Eugene and discovered 4,153 sets of Lego that officers estimate are worth over $200,000.
“We all feel the impact of organized retail theft through the increasing cost of items we buy for our families,” says Chief Andrew Shearer.
“Recognizing this, SPD’s Crime Reduction Unit, with the support of our retail partners, works diligently to hold accountable those who make the choice to engage in or support retail theft.
“SPD is proud of the work of our officers, and we are committed to the pursuit of those behind these crimes in our community.”
In March, PetaPixel reported on a police department in California which has been using Lego heads to conceal the identities of suspects after a law was passed which prohibits police departments from posting mug shots of nonviolent suspects.
Image credits: Springfield Police Department Orgeon.