California man arrested for allegedly swapping in pasta for Lego pieces then returning them

A California man pilfered thousands of dollars in Lego toy sets from the retailer Target in a return-based scam, sometimes swapping valuable figurines with dried pasta pieces and before returning the construction-centric toys, authorities recently alleged.

The alleged plot ended with the arrest of 28-year-old Jarrelle Augustine, accused of grand theft for allegedly stealing the Lego sets, whose manufacturer is known for the interlocking miniature bricks and figurines, according to Irving, California, police.

“You read that correctly,” police said in a Facebook post announcing the 14 April arrest. “We are talking about durum wheat semolina pasta, and what we are calling a pasta-tively terrible plan.”

Target told authorities that there were at least 70 thefts across the US tied to Augustine, “stacking up about $34,000 in losses”. Police quipped: “That’s a lot of missing pieces.”

“But like most bad builds, this one didn’t hold together,” police said, outlining the investigation as involving surveillance to identify the suspect.

They also said: “If your master plan involves swapping Legos for linguine, we can promise your plan will be cooked al dente.”

The Irvine police department public information officer Ziggy Azarcon said that investigators began looking into the case in December 2025.

Target’s loss prevention department checked returns and noticed that one of the Lego boxes was open and missing figurines – and subsequently notified the police department.

Azarcon said police knew there was a secondary market for the missing pieces. Irvine investigators then said they determined Augustine was responsible for dozens of phoney returns.

Police accuse Augustine of buying Lego sets, opening the packages they were in, removing the figurines and later returning them. Augustine sometimes allegedly removed all the Lego components and replaced them with pasta noodles.

The alleged financial losses involve Target’s inability to resell any of these Legos, Azarcon said. It is unclear whether Augustine has an attorney who could be reached for comment.

The accusations against Augustine are among a spate of recent theft incidents involving allegedly stolen Legos.

In April, authorities seized about $1m in Legos and two stolen freight trailers that were traveling to Riverside county, according to the Los Angeles Times.

And a Vallejo, California, man was charged in March with second-degree commercial burglary and grand theft for stealing nearly $25,000 from Target in instances spanning from August 2024 to February 2025.

The man’s “actions followed a similar method”, Contra Costa county, California, prosecutors said. He would enter a store alone, fill a shopping cart with Legos and leave “exiting with the stolen merchandise in a matter of minutes”.

In another example, a California man was apprehended last fall for allegedly stealing hundreds of thousands in Lego toys. The man was reselling the popular toys at tip-top prices in connection with a sprawling theft ring, USA Today reported.

Target did not immediately respond to a request for comment.