IRVINE, Calif. — A man from California is facing charges after police said he stole thousands of dollars’ worth of Lego kits, then returned them to Target.
The boxes were not filled with bags of plastic bricks, but instead, bags of pasta, police said.
The Irvine Police Department said on Facebook that Jarrelle Augustine was charged with grand theft, The New York Times reported.
Target reported the alleged crime to police, saying he had stolen the sets about 70 times across the country. The plot was valued at about $34,000 in losses, Fox News reported.
One image the department shared was a Star Wars ship that retails for $79.99. Another set was the Marvel Avengers Tower that retails for nearly $500 on the Lego website.
“If your master plan involves swapping LEGOs for linguine, we can promise your plan will be cooked al dente,” the department wrote.
Scientist and criminologist at the University of Florida, Read Hayes, said that the use of uncooked pasta may have simulated the sounds of pieces inside the box.
Hayes, who is also the executive director of the Loss Prevention Research Council, called the pasta plot “off the charts,” the Times reported.
© 2026 Cox Media Group
