Fairy Bricks theft update

So glad they got the van back. And Lego is stepping in too!
Great news. All the best to Fairy Bricks!
https://www.facebook.com/pg/FairyBricks/posts/

I thought it was another charity but yeah, they've been robbed before.

Good to know. I hope you find those thrives.

I found a store on BrickLink who has quantities of some of these sets... and they're all were listed on june 20th 2020 weirdly. It's located in Austria though, It's probably just a conincidence.

It is really insensitive shouting "inside job" when all the publicly known info is from few photos and text here or on their Facebook. I repeat, you (know who) are publicly "suggesting" that people who work/volunteer for this charity are also stealing from sick kids...

- quick look on GMaps shows the place of entry is covered from 3 sides by walls, park a truck and it is covered a lot more
- sheet metal roofs can be cut by hand tools which is quiet, but even some battery operated tools snips/nibblers are not that much louder than for example rattling diesel truck (except circular saw of course)
- the height it suspicious , but next to it is the (middle) loading bay from where the insides can be easily seen
- it happened after a delivery, but it was not a one-of, they regularly kept receiving and shipping
- also the contents were not one-of, all they were getting is LEGO, so any observed shipment is good to get
- it is in a publicly accessible business park with multiple tenants where them or their visitors could easily observer the insides, loading, unloading, etc .
- also the processing of the shipment takes time, it is not like there was an unique time window that weekend. Packing tens of thousands sets takes weeks. And after that new shipment arrives...
- and it does not make sense placing stickers on arrival spending hours unpacking and then stacking the sets. It makes sense when when packing the final delivery boxes with mixed sets. Again it is not a small time window they hit
- plus in the last donation we got from them the stickers were still on the roll and it was left for us in LUG to apply those
- comparing to other 'targets' is not so easy. This amount of sets numbering tens of thousands in one place is not comparable to any mom-and-pops stores or even local toy shop franchises. In these times even a mid-sized supermarket has a guard or 24/7 online security. And the big guys who could have those - wholesalers, chain distribution centers (Smyths, Argos,...), LEGO's own,... are in A-grade warehouses with controlled access.

Lego commented: “We were devastated to hear this news – those thousands of Lego sets were on their way to children’s hospices and hospitals. We are doing everything we can to help Fairy Bricks in these difficult times and we will work to replace the sets as soon as possible.”
Yeah and they were robbed back in 2017. They can't get a break.
Sad, but they might have to employ some kind of security or lots of camera's, alarm system, etc.

@JediMolerat:
I wouldn't go so far as to say that it was necessarily someone involved with the organization, but it's clearly someone who is familiar with them. They cut one fairly small hole through the wall. It's high off the ground, but there weren't any obstructions that would be impossible to squeeze past, there weren't any electrical conduits that would be dangerous to sever, and for how high off the ground it was, there was still a safe landing zone below it. There's no window right next to the hole, so that's either the devil's own luck, or they picked their access point according to the interior layout.

They hit when a big shipment had just arrived, so they either heard about it from someone else, or they were able to monitor the site for deliveries. They struck very quickly, and likely had been prepared and waiting for this opportunity. They appear to have stolen only stuff that was safe to flip, and left anything else behind. They _didn't_ just steal everything and dump any stickered sets after the fact.

They stole the van to haul the sets away, so unless they hotwired it, they knew where to locate the keys (and recall that the last time, they knew the van was loaded, so cutting the side open wouldn't just be a waste of time).

This wasn't just a crime of opportunity. There had to have been some advanced planning behind this. If it wasn't someone inside the organization, it was almost certainly someone who has been inside the building before, or has access to a neighboring building that allowed them to monitor activity on the site without being obvious.

Aw man, I love that banana set.

@PurpleDave: Thanks for explaining the logic behind that line of reasoning better then I could.

If somebody was telling you how their apartment got robbed while on holidays would you as first thing tell them "it must have been done/tip by your friends or family" ? Without considering that a neighbor could seen them packing the car or a recent handyman saw how it looks inside and ... Because exactly what you are telling to/about these great people supporting children.

I'll finish by quoting from their statement:
"We are going to end this today with a few words regarding negative comments. We are all human, we are all curious and like to speculate about things. However when we make those thoughts public they have the potential to cause massive harm. When they are seen by the people who are directly affected by a situation like this, the damage they can cause is significant. So we urge everyone to consider the things they post, not just about us but about everyone who could be facing difficult times. Have a great weekend everyone and Play Well."

@papluh:
If someone was telling you about how their apartment was just robbed, you'd think they'd want to know exactly who did it, even if that knowledge broke their heart.

There's enough evidence (plus a previous theft) to justify saying that this was not some random stranger who just decided to break in and see what could be stolen. This was premeditated, and someone researched this. Someone who knows this is a charity for sick kids.

But we don't know enough to say with any degree of certainty that it was an "inside job". It could just as easily be a friend or relative, someone who lives/works right nearby, or someone who has been there on a work call (repair, delivery, etc.). Hopefully the fact that this is a repeat crime will give the police enough to go on that they can catch someone this time. And hopefully Fairy Bricks will consider installing cameras. Highly conspicuous cameras.

I've posted on the original robbery post with some details but I think this thread also deserves a reply.

@Huw made me aware these comments existed via text on Wednesday but I was in no mental state to read them never mind be able to offer a response. First of all a slight correction on the article, our most recent significant delivery was actually May so not that recent. Donations to hospitals are obviously much more difficult at the moment but are still happening on a remote basis.

When we suffered a robbery to our old van in 2017 it wasn't cut open as stated here. A method was used known as Peel & Steel where two or three people are literally able to fold the side door in half to gain access. The van stolen this time and thankfully recovered was a different vehicle. We are now also in a different location.

The similarities between what happened in 2017 and last week start and stop with the fact that LEGO was stolen. While the van was taken, it should be obvious given the volume of sets taken that it wasn't the only nor primary vehicle used to haul the sets away. The van was just a nice bonus for them.

Something accurate from the comments here is that this wasn't a random theft. It was clearly targeted, planned and executed. By a forensically aware, sophisticated gang of organised criminals. Those are not my words but those of the detectives investigating the case. Thankfully neither myself nor any of the team are part of that gang and have therefore not been arrested.

The height of the entry point has come in for considerable comment here. It's possible that someone who has been in the building previously (delivery people, tradespeople etc) has observed and provided that information to criminals. Or anyone with warehouse knowledge would know that given the pitch of the roof (which can't be seen in the published picture) and the standard height of pallets and racking beams, that the cut point would take them above any obstacles internally.

While I'm no position to stop people posting things and speculating, I will state that it is in no way helpful when unwarranted and uniformed opinions are offered that are essentially allegations. Not specifically the comments here because I had already made a decision not to read them based on the text from Huw. Seeing things posted elsewhere had already caused me enough problems mentally and a decision was made not to risk reading more. This situation has devastated us. When you take a call at 07:10am from your neighbour, arrive 20 minutes later and see so much you have worked for over a long period of time destroyed it is heartbreaking. Thankfully the positive far outweigh the negative and we are working hard to get things back together and have us fully operational again ASAP.