71-year-old arrested after alleged theft of more than 2,800 boxes of Lego

The Los Angeles Police Department seized over 2,800 boxes of stolen LEGO toys from the home of a 71-year-old man on Wednesday.

In a press release, the department said Richard Siegel and 39-year-old Blanca Gudino allegedly stole the toys – each with a retail value ranging from $20 to “well over” $1,000 – from stores across California.

According to police, when a search warrant was served on Siegel’s Long Beach residence on June 5, “potential buyers of the toys arrived who had been lured by advertisements placed by Siegel on Internet sales sites.”

The investigation into the couple began after a retailer in San Pedro reported a series of thefts to police in December 2023 and theft prevention personnel identified Gudino as a suspect.

“On June 4, 2024, members of the Los Angeles Police Department observed Gudino stealing items from the same retailer in Torrance and Lakewood before delivering the LEGO toys to Siegel at his Long Beach residence,” the department’s press release states.

Siegel was charged with organized shoplifting, and Gudino was arrested and charged with grand larceny.

According to jail records viewed by PEOPLE, Siegel was released on his own bond and is scheduled to appear in court on June 26. Gudino is currently being held on $20,000 bail.

Although police did not identify the retailer Siegel and Gudino allegedly targeted, The Los Angeles Times reported earlier this week that over $100,000 worth of LEGO products were stolen from six Bricks & Minifigs stores in Southern California.

The suspected thieves were described as “two men” who “worked as a team” to target LEGO second-hand stores between April and June.

“We’re a specialty store for people looking for the Lego sets from their childhood – the things we have can’t be restocked as easily. They’re not stealing big box sets. They’re stealing minifigures, and those individual figures are $500 to $600 a piece, so they’re easy to steal and resell for a quick profit,” Katie Leuschner, owner of Bricks & Minifigs in Whittier, told the outlet.

Want to stay up to date with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletter to get breaking crime news, ongoing court coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.

It is unclear if the two cases are related. PEOPLE has reached out to the Los Angeles Police Department for comment.