A San Bernardino County sheriff's task force has arrested 21-year-old Angel Castro on suspicion of attempted murder, cargo theft and conspiracy after a gunman opened fire on a BNSF Railway Police officer from a moving freight train near Devore earlier this month. The arrest, made during a traffic stop, followed the shooting; separately, authorities discovered nearly $30,000 worth of stolen Lego sets abandoned in a van near Newberry Springs — the latest flashpoint in a wave of organized freight train burglaries sweeping California's Mojave Desert corridor.
Shots Fired at a BNSF Officer Near Cajon Pass
According to the Los Angeles Times, a man allegedly fired a handgun at a BNSF police officer from a moving train near Cajon Pass, though the officer was not injured. The shooting is what led a sheriff's task force to arrest Castro in San Bernardino, with authorities booking him on suspicion of attempted murder, cargo theft and conspiracy and setting his bail at $2 million. The Times reports the August 10 incident occurred near Cajon Boulevard and Keenbrook Road in Devore, where the gunman was interrupting what appeared to be a boxcar burglary, as detailed by FreightWaves.
The gunfire triggered an intensive multi-agency manhunt across the county, per the same outlet's reporting. Separately, a sheriff's deputy conducting a vehicle check came across an abandoned van at National Trails Highway and Pioneer Road in Newberry Springs and saw a large number of boxes inside. The deputy suspected the boxes were tied to recent train burglaries and contacted BNSF Railway Police, who confirmed the Lego sets were connected to a boxcar burglary, the Times reports.
123 Boxes of McLaren F1 Lego Sets
The recovered shipment included 123 boxes of McLaren F1 Lego sets, each valued at about $230, adding up to the reported nearly $30,000 total. Four other occupants of the vehicle were initially suspected of cargo theft, conspiracy and possessing burglary tools, but jail records show that Jorge Sarmiento Ochoa, 31, Miguel Humberto Grajeda Carrizos, 24, Jesus Jose Grajeda, 25, and Cesar Geovanny Grajeda Medina, 22, were all released without being charged. Investigators reported no arrests connected to the Lego recovery itself.
Cargo thieves in the region typically board slow-moving freight trains, sometimes slashing an air brake hose to force an emergency stop, before loading stolen merchandise into box trucks or hiding it in nearby brush until the trucks arrive. Freight trains moving through the Cajon Pass and Devore corridor are especially vulnerable because steep mountain grades force heavy cargo trains to slow down, giving organized crews a window to strike, according to the SBC Sentinel.
A Pattern of Desert Rail Heists
Cargo thefts have become a pervasive problem in isolated stretches of the Mojave Desert. In June, a rail car loaded with lithium-ion batteries caught fire while it was being burglarized in Cajon Pass, and that same month, train robbers attempted to steal an estimated $100,000 worth of audio equipment from a BNSF freight train near Newberry Springs before a sheriff's deputy interrupted them and recovered the merchandise, according to the SBCSentinel. In May, San Bernardino County deputies assisted BNSF Railway Police in Devore after reports of roughly 15 people riding a freight train during a cargo burglary, a call that led to a high-speed chase and two arrests after a fleeing suspect was struck by a car on Interstate 215, as reported by Victor Valley News.
Hoodline previously reported on a similar bust in April, when Kern County sheriff's deputies recovered roughly $1 million worth of Lego products packed inside two stolen freight trailers moving from Fort Worth, Texas, to Riverside County, resulting in three arrests. Lego products have become an unusually attractive target for organized theft rings because they are small, untraceable, carry strong resale value, and can be quickly flipped online, according to Inc. Magazine.
Organized Crime Ties and a Booming Black Market
The Assn. of American Railroads has attributed the rise in cargo theft to organized criminal networks, and reported cargo theft incidents totaled more than 75,000 in 2025, according to industry estimates cited by the Times — a figure that has climbed since the COVID-19 pandemic. Cargo train heists have also resulted in the theft of nearly $2 million worth of Nike sneakers between 2024 and 2025, investigators say. A Homeland Security Investigations special agent, who filed affidavits in federal court, described the transnational criminal groups behind these thefts as consisting primarily of Mexican citizens from Sinaloa state.
The financial scale of the problem is staggering by industry measures. Verisk CargoNet's annual analysis found that nationwide cargo-theft losses reached nearly $725 million in 2025, a 60% jump from the prior year.
Under California Penal Code Section 214, boarding or entering a railroad train, car, or engine with intent to rob or steal carries felony penalties of up to three years in state prison, while entering a railcar to commit theft is charged separately as burglary under Penal Code Section 459, according to Justia Law. The reported shooting of an officer is among the alleged conduct prosecutors will weigh as they consider charges tied to the Devore incident.
