GARLAND, Texas — It's a scheme that was built brick-by-brick.
Brian Fleming and Ladarion Anderson, both 33, of Lancaster, Texas, are accused of stealing thousands of dollars of Lego sets from several stores across Texas, Oklahoma, Philadelphia and Florida since 2021, according to arrest records.
According to an affidavit out of Smith County, the pair targeted big box retailers like Target and Walmart.
According to police records, their investigation into the Lego crime ring started in October 2022, when another suspect was found with 19 Cricut machines in the back of his car. The trooper who found the machines learned they were stolen, it prompted a multi-agency investigation. The affidavit states an Amazon investigator said the man selling the items received invoices for Legos and other items from Fleming, the affidavit said.
Per the affidavit, the men would buy items at the stores, usually under $2, with their credit and debit cards, then alter the receipts to make it look like they bought expensive Lego sets.
Later, their co-conspirators would enter the store, pick up the listed expensive Lego sets and walk out, according to the document. If the thieves were questioned by a store clerk, they simply produced the altered receipt, police said.
The group of at least 10 people would then sell the stolen Lego sets to another man, who was selling "highly stolen items" on online platforms like Amazon and eBay, according to the affidavit. Police records show the seller was listing the Lego sets with as much as a 70% discount from their retail value.
The affidavit estimated the Lego sets the group stole were worth a combined $400,000.
Throw a dart at a map of North Texas and you're likely to hit a town that was hit in the scheme. The group are accused of targeting stores in 50 North Texas cities — from as large as Dallas to as small as Gun Barrel City, according to arrest records.
On Aug. 30, 2022, the group walked away with over $6,400 in Lego from a Target in Garland, according to arrest records. On May 12, 2023, they grabbed over $3,800 worth of Lego sets from a Target in Mansfield, and over $3,600 from a Target in Plano just 11 days later, according to the affidavit. Two weeks later, on June 4, 2023, they hit a McKinney Target for over $4,500, per police records.
Fleming and Anderson were both charged with engaging in organized crime and theft over $300,000. Fleming is being held in the Smith County Jail with a combined $1.1 million bond, and Anderson is in the Tarrant County Corrections Center on a combined $1,141,00 bond.