California man allegedly stuffed Lego returns with pasta in $34,000 scam

Dry pasta was apparently convincing enough to pass for LEGO bricks because it matched the weight, and enough of the rattle, to slip through Target return counters until investigators tied the boxes together. Irvine police say that trick helped a 28-year-old California man run a sprawling return-fraud scheme that cost about $34,000.

Police identified the suspect as Jarrelle Augustine of Paramount, California, and said the alleged playbook was simple but effective: buy high-value LEGO Star Wars and Marvel sets, open the boxes, remove the mini figures and other valuable pieces, replace the contents with dry pasta, reseal the packaging, and return it for cash. One of the sets referenced in police and social media coverage was a $499 Marvel Avengers-themed box, while others were described as expensive Star Wars and Marvel releases priced around $400.

Irvine police said the scheme stretched across at least 70 thefts and returns at Target stores in California, Texas, Tennessee, New Jersey and Florida. The repeated pattern eventually made the case easier to trace, and officers linked the incidents across state lines before tracking Augustine to a Los Angeles County apartment on April 15, 2026. Inside, police said they found stolen LEGO bricks stockpiled, a detail that undercut the whole pasta-filled operation.

Augustine was arrested in Irvine on April 16, 2026, on suspicion of grand theft. Police later mocked the alleged scheme with the kind of lines that travel fast online, calling it a “pasta-tively terrible” plan and a “bad build” that “didn’t hold together.” The joke lands because the fraud was so specific: the pasta did not need to look like LEGO, only to feel close enough in the box to fool Guest Services.

The case also spotlights a real weak point in big-box returns. Target says most unopened items in new condition can be returned within 90 days, but the company also reserves the right to deny returns, refunds and exchanges in cases of fraud, suspected fraud or abuse. In this case, that policy met a suspect who seemed to know exactly how to exploit the box, the weight and the sound.