Pasco deputies nab suspected serial Lego shoplifter

WESLEY CHAPEL (FOX 13) - Everything is not awesome for a New Jersey man who was allegedly caught lifting Legos from a Pasco County toy store -- and he's suspected of doing the same thing around the country.

According to arrest records, Shannon Kirkley was spotted on Toys R Us surveillance footage Tuesday, removing a toy chest from its cardboard box, then slipping 12 Lego Star Wars sets into the box.  He then tried to check out, paying only for the toy chest and not for the over $300 worth of Legos hidden inside.

Kirkley, 35, was charged with grand theft, plus resisting arrest and possession of cocaine.  Investigators say he's a fugitive out of New Jersey and is suspected in a string of similar types of crimes around the country.

"I guess you can say the Force was not strong with this one!" a sheriff's office spokesperson offered.