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Photo: Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/ picture alliance/dpa
Their scam was very simple: go in, pack your Lego and run away.
Police in Nottinghamshire, England, have put a stop to a "brazen" gang of thieves who stole more than £4,000 worth of Lego toys.
The three men, all 22 years old, were sentenced to 18-week suspended prison terms each, police said in a statement on Wednesday.
They had previously confessed to the crimes.
Employees confronted the gang
According to the police, the perpetrators always wore baseball caps during their robberies.
They went into branches of a retail chain and got large shopping bags, which they loaded with Lego products.
They then left the stores without paying.
At one of the three stores they visited over two days in late August, an employee confronted them.
But they managed to escape in a car.
It was fatal for the thieves that they drove around in the car with the Lego the day after their last theft.
Police officers who saw the packed car became suspicious.
A license plate check revealed that the vehicle was wanted in connection with the Lego thefts.
They were stopped and arrested.
Superintendent Sergeant Antony Coleman praised the "instinct" of colleagues who tracked down the "brazen thieves."
In addition to the suspended sentence, the trio is now banned from entering the affected chain's stores in England and Wales for a year.
ktz/dpa