California man allegedly swapped Target LEGO sets for pasta in nationwide scam

Dry pasta, not plastic bricks, was allegedly the payload in a nationwide Target return scam that police say turned LEGO boxes into bait. Investigators say Jarrelle Augustine, a 28-year-old from Paramount, California, bought expensive sets, stripped out the valuable contents, and sent back the empty boxes filled with dried pasta.

Police say the alleged scheme ran at least 70 times across Target stores in multiple states and produced about $34,000 in losses. In the boxes, authorities say Augustine used durum wheat semolina pasta, and reports also identified Goya-brand pasta among the fillers. The odd swap was aimed at expensive sets whose real contents could be resold fast, especially Star Wars and Marvel pieces that command strong prices on the secondary market.

Irvine police said Augustine was caught during what they described as his most recent attempt at a Target in Irvine, California. Detectives identified him through surveillance, then booked him into Orange County Jail on grand theft charges. Images shared by police showed what they said was Augustine shopping for LEGO sets, along with bags of dried pasta and pieces from Star Wars sets.

The case matters well beyond one bizarre arrest because tampered returns are a direct hit to shoppers, collectors, and retailers. When a LEGO box comes back heavier than expected or rattles in a way that sounds close enough to the real thing, it can slip past a quick return-counter check. In this case, police said the pasta-filled boxes could sound convincing enough when shaken, which helps explain how the swap kept moving through stores.

Irvine police leaned into the absurdity with social-media jokes, calling the allegation a “bad build” and a “pasta-tively terrible plan.” Behind the puns is a familiar retail problem: the more valuable the set, the more attractive it becomes for someone willing to turn a sealed box into a shell game.