3rd person arrested for $400,000 Lego theft ring that impacted East Texas stores, others across U.S.

TYLER, Texas — Editor’s Note: The above video aired in December 2024. 

A third person was arrested this week in connection with a $400,000 Lego theft ring that impacted Walmart and Target stores across the country. 

Semetric Danielle Baker, 34, of Burnet, was booked into the Smith County Jail Wednesday on charges of engaging with criminal activity and property theft over $300,000. 

She is the third person to be arrested for the scheme that impacted stores in Tyler, Longview, Gun Barrel City and other Texas cities as well as locations in Florida and Oklahoma, arrest documents show. 

Brian Fleming and Ladarion Anderson, both 33, were arrested for same charges in December. Documents say Fleming and Anderson would go into the stores first and one of their five co-conspirators, which included Baker, would go in afterward as a part of the scheme.

An arrest affidavit states Fleming and Anderson would go into a Walmart and go down an aisle with Legos before purchasing other items, which would usually be under $1, using their credit or debit cards. After the duo left, a co-conspirator would go in the store, walk down the Lego aisle and pick up the same items. 

The co-conspirator would walk past the checkout counter without trying to buy the items. If employees stopped them, they would show an altered receipt with items renamed as Legos and prices changed to be the cost of Legos, the affidavit said. 

Further investigation showed Fleming, Anderson and the co-conspirators were involved in the theft of about $200,000 at Walmart locations, and there was a combined total of over $400,000 at Walmart and Target, according to the document. 

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