Maintaining a peaceful relationship with your ex’s new beau is always a delicate dance, but imagine if the new beau actually stole something from your house.
That’s what happened to a man on Reddit, who calls himself leggomylego on the platform, and now he’s embroiled in a lawsuit against his ex-wife and her new boyfriend.
So, he took his dilemma to the AITA (Am I The A**hole) subReddit to get some feedback. The Original Poster (OP) asked:
“AITA for suing my ex and her boyfriend?”
As he explained:
“My ex and I divorced three years ago. She was cheating, but at this point I don’t care about the relationship anymore. The pending lawsuit has nothing to do with her or him, but rather their actions.”
“My ex and I have a son, 13, that we split time with 50/50. He’s a great kid that interests have changed a lot to be honest as I imagine more kids/teenagers tend to do through the years.”
“One thing my son was heavily into at some point was Legos. He used to play with them all the time, and personally I think they’re a great toy for different reasons.”
“I used to love playing them with him, and to this day I still collect boxes that I leave unopened as a collection.”
“Well when my ex and I divorced she got with someone who loved Legos more I guess? From what I know he loves making creations and building the sets. I don’t care.. seems cool.”
“He does one thing I think is very very weird.. He uses crazy glue so the sets can’t break or pieces can’t be lost. It seems so weird to me.”
“The issue is, I was out of town for all of three days last week for medical reasons, and my son wanted to get his ps4 so he could play it at his mom’s.”
“This isn’t out of the ordinary at all and he has a key, so he let me know he would be stopping over for it.”
“I told him to have fun when I saw him on the entry camera. My wife’s husband was with him which was a no-no. I told him via speaker to not go in and to wait on the porch.”
“He flinched but walked in any way. I sent my ex a text telling her to call him and tell him he’s one minute away from a cop call.”
“He left my home with a bag in hand which I didn’t think much of because my son had his games too.”
“Well my son texted me later that evening and said he didn’t know it at the time but he’s pretty sure SD took some of my Lego sets. These are all old sets and two are worth big money.”
“When I got home I confirmed the missing sets and called my ex.”
“She had no idea but he admitted he took them but it was so son could have the sets to complete his collection… my son doesn’t even like Legos anymore and told his mom he wouldn’t steal from me.”
“My wife asked how much it would cost to replace them and unfortunately it’s more than their savings. Actually, it would take their house down payment plus more.”
“I told them if they didn’t pay in two weeks I was suing and pressing charges. The price in the sets makes it a felony.”
“My ex and her husband are saving for a house which would give my son more space when he’s there, but those sets were going to help pay for his education someday or a home of his own. I filed the police report and have talked to a lawyer and we’re moving forward with the suit.”
“Everyone is calling me a joke because they are just toys, but I don’t get it. They are worth real money.”
“I’m not rich guys. I needed those to help with my son’s future… but again taking this money does deny my son things at his moms house.”
“AITA here??”
OP later returned to the post to clarify a few of the details.
“I’ve been asked to add these facts.”
“The sets have been opened which makes them half their worth, and one was glued together. The damage was done already.”
“The stolen items are:”
“Kings Castle, Milk truck, Legoland train Carousel and the glued one was a Star Wars snow speeder.”
“Some of these are one piece of a larger set. So if you lose one of five, you lose the value of one product plus the value of the set as a whole.”
“Ex-wife and boyfriend are the same as ex and husband. I’m just a bad writer.”
“I know I haven’t been here much but I have read many of your comments and taken them to heart. I am not a scalper.”
“I enjoy buying these sets and do not intend to sell all of them, but I want my son to go to college and not worry about debt, so I want to sell the ones that I can to help. I never had the smarts for higher education but my son is not me, and I love him and want him to do better.”
“Around 4:00 PM I called the local state police and met at their facility. I gave them all I had and gave my statement.”
“My son is with me starting tonight so when I picked him up I sent him into GameStop and called his mom.”
“I told her I had filed charges and I asked the cop to call me when everything was done so I could give him the opportunity to turn himself in. I wanted to be better than he treated me.”
“I told my son when we got home what I did and why. My son said that I did the right thing because he didn’t want his step dad to think it was ok to do it again, and if he didn’t go to jail he’d rather be here away from him so it isn’t weird.”
OP’s fellow Redditors were then tasked with judging who’s in the wrong in this situation based on the following categories:
- NTA – Not The A**hole
- YTA – You’re The A**hole
- ESH – Everyone Sucks Here
- NAH – No A**holes Here
And pretty much everyone was in agreement on who was in the wrong.
“NTA. Looking at it from just a monetary value, I don’t believe your friends would be saying the same if he had stolen $XX amount of money. He shouldn’t have entered your house without permission and he shouldn’t have stolen the sets. He broke the law, he faces the consequences of his actions. Its about as simple as that.” —madpirate-k
“This. The man is a thief, plain and simple. He committed a felony and needs to face the consequences for his actions. Also, there’s no way he didn’t go in there for the sole purpose of stealing those sets…” —100percentthatdork
“He could have stole jewelry. He could have stole money. He could have stole the PS4. He could have stole his flat screen. Doesn’t matter. He stole from OP after he was warned not to enter the house. Throw trespassing on top of it. Have him charged with theft as well as suing. He dug himself this grave. NTA.” —el_deedee
“For reference, the sets are all discontinued, and are only going to get pricier. (All prices quoted are top end off a google search) Kings Castle – $500 Milk Truck – $2000 Legoland Train – $60 Snowspeeder – $400” —Yakostovian
“Piggybacking off of this: if her husband “loves Legos more” than you, he should know how much those sets cost. He knew what he was doing and the consequences of those actions. NTA” —buncc
“…If OP doesn’t put his foot down now what’s to stop this guy from stealing again and again? OP needs to protect his assets for his son’s future.” —insomniac29
“NTA, they were not toys. They were boxed sets that had trade value to other people. The asshole (boyfriend to ex) changed then from collectible to toy, which changed the value. He needs to compensate you for the lost value, plus your time and legal fees.” —FragilousSpectunkery
“You are so right. Legos are a better investment than gold bars. If he stole gold bars from OP no one would be complaining.” —SpikySnowFairy
“NTA. And people trying to blame you for suing by saying you’re making it impossible for your son to live in a bigger house at her place. Maybe bf should have thought about that before stealing someone else’s property, and maybe ex should have thought about not getting together with a thief.” —Mystshade
“Yes. NTA. Call the cops and make a report. Sue them for the full price, and all expenses related to replacement. Go after the judgement. Take their house, poison their well, slaughter their cow, and salt their fields. Go nuclear. He is a thief, knew what he was doing, did it anyway, and she is choosing him.” —awalktojericho
So there you have it. It seems when it comes to issues of theft, things are pretty clear-cut on Reddit.