California man accused of using pasta to replace stolen Legos

Irvine police arrested a man accused of stealing $34,000 worth of high-end Lego sets and replacing the plastic bricks with pieces of dry pasta. 

Jarrelle Augustine, 28, allegedly stole expensive sets, such as Star Wars and Marvel, and sealed up the Lego boxes before returning them to the stores for refunds, according to the Irvine Police Department.

"One of the cases that occurred here in Orange County, they shared that they opened the box and instead of Legos, they found bags of dry pasta," Officer Ziggy Azarcon said. 

Investigators said the dry pasta mimics the sound of Legos when they're shaken. Officers said Augustine got refunds at Target locations in Costa Mesa, Irvine and Westminster, as well as different stores out of state. 

Earlier this week, Irvine PD tracked Augustine to his Los Angeles County apartment and arrested him. They found several packages of Lego pieces.

"These were definitely sets that were consistent with what he was purchasing and then returning," Azarcon said. "These were Star Wars sets and Marvel sets, which have a very high value on the secondary market."

Irvine police said Augustine is linked to dozens of cases in Texas, Tennessee, New Jersey and Florida.