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TAYLORSVILLE — A Utah detective fit the pieces together to solve the case of the Lego caper, police say.
Taylorsville police arrested a man who they accuse of stealing $10,000 worth of Lego toys across multiple Target stores in Salt Lake County and Utah County. They said 31-year-old Devon Engard stole Lego products from six different locations about 23 times starting in March through June 15.
Engard was charged on June 9 in 3rd District Court with two counts of retail theft, a third-degree felony; and retail theft, a class B misdemeanor.
"He usually picks around the closing time when he walks into the store, and he's in and out within two minutes," said Taylorsville police detective Braydon Hamatake.
Hamatake said the man would mostly steal "Harry Potter"-themed Lego products and would have a different getaway driver each time.
"I don't know who the people are that are driving him around because they would never leave the car; they could sit out in the car in front of the Target and wait for him," the detective said.
Hamatake said he identified Engard by comparing the man seen surveillance video with photos of Engard.
"He was wearing the same sweatshirt in most of the incidents. He had facial hair that I was able to identify him from the mugshots," Hamatake said.
Hamatake said the facts were stacked against Engard. The detective says the man was stealing the toys to resell them.
"The original price, MSRP, on most of these, are probably about $180, and he was selling them for $60, so it's a pretty big jump," Hamatake said. "A couple of red flags, but other people wouldn't know it's been stolen."
Hamatake says he went to the online classifieds, found ads for the allegedly stolen toys and pretended to be an interested buyer.
"When I told him I was interested in the Legos, he said, 'OK, I'll give you this price,'" Hamatake recalled. "He says, 'I've got a couple more sets as well if you would like.' I told him, 'Bring them with you, and I'll take a look.'"
That's when Engard was taken into custody.
"He was surprised when he saw cops converge on him," Hamatake said. "He looked like he wanted to run."
"He denied all the allegations against him," Hamatake said.
Hamatake said thefts like these are no game to law enforcement or stores.
"Most of the retailers right now want to make sure their employees are safe, which I agree with, so they don't go hands-on with suspects," he said. "There's always surveillance that we can identify the suspect and follow up later on."
As a thank you, Target gave Hamatake a Lego cake.
He's still investigating this case. He said no Lego bricks have been recovered.
It was later determined that the suspect was involved in 23 incidents at stores from Salt Lake to Utah counties. Det. Hamatake was able to identify the suspect, who was booked into jail last night. Target was so appreciative of Det. Hamatake's work that they made him a Lego cake.
— TVPDUtah (@TVPDUtah) June 21, 2023
