More than $10K worth of Lego sets, comic books stolen by thieves
The Alameda County Sheriff's office says it just recovered more than $10
By Suzanne Phan
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SAN FRANCISCO, California (KGO) — Authorities say thieves have been breaking into Bay Area stores, stealing Lego sets and comic books and then selling them online.
The Alameda County Sheriff’s office says it just recovered more than $10,000 worth of items.
“A lot of our Star Wars sets did get taken,” said Daisy Ernst, manager of Five Little Monkey’s Toy store in Lafayette. “Some of the sets get quite pricey.”
Ernst said two men broke into her store late March 25.
Surveillance video captured the men on camera. Ernst says the men knew exactly what they wanted; they were in and out in minutes.
“I estimate around 50 sets were taken. The total was around $7,000. It was quite a bit from us,” said Ernst.
One day after the brazen break-in, Ernst says there was a remarkable turn of events. She was able to recover all of the stolen sets.
Josh Hunter, the owner of crush comics in Castro Valley, had a lot to do with the recovery.
“Thankfully when they heard about our robbery, they reached out to us and said, ‘Hey we think these are the same people.’ So, we were able to work with them and the police and get our stole product back,” said Ernst.
Hunter said someone broke into his comic bookstore on March 22 and stole 40 comic books. That was worth about $3,000.
“They broke our front window with a hammer. And then they ran inside and stole all of our wall books,” said Hunter. “They cleared that shelf, and they were out of the shelf I less than 2 minutes.”
Hunter says his staff found out hours later that thieves were selling the stolen items on Facebook Marketplace and on eBay.
“One of our books that was stolen was on eBay. That eBay page had a bunch of Legos that also seemed to be stolen. We were in communication with other Lego stores in the area and they confirmed it was theirs.”
Alameda County Sheriff’s office got involved and ended up arresting a 29-year-old man in connection with the burglary. The recovered stolen goods went back to the rightful owners.
“We were just so happy to get them back,” said Ernst.
Hunter says the break-ins and thefts would be serious setbacks any small business.
But, with the help of some employees and law enforcement, this story has a happy ending for both Hunter and Ernst.
“We really felt like a superhero team, saving the day and solving crimes,” said Hunter.
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