A California man has been dubbed the “Lego Bandit” after being accused of a nationwide scheme in which he stole Legos, filled the boxes with pasta, and then returned them for a profit, CBS News reports.
Jarrelle Augustine, 28, was arrested by the Irvine Police Department for allegedly stealing $34,000 worth of high-end Lego sets and replacing the small plastic bricks with dry pasta, which sounds like Legos when shaken.
“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.
Azarcon said some of the sets, which featured themes such as Marvel and Star Wars, were expensive. Augustine allegedly received refunds at Target locations in Costa Mesa, Irvine and Westminster and also had ties to cases in Texas, Tennessee, New Jersey, and Florida.
According to Fox News, store surveillance footage shows the suspect taking Lego sets from a store shelf and walking out.
Augustine was arrested at his Los Angeles County apartment, where several packages of Lego piece were found.
In a Facebook post, the Irvine Police Department presented the case with humor.: “If your master plan involves swapping LEGOs for linguine, we can promise your plan will be cooked al dente.”
The popular toy brand has been around since 1932, but has become a phenomenon among adults in recent years. Celebrities like Chloe Bailey are often seen on social media building lavish exhibits.
On other social media platforms like X, users referred to Augustine as “brilliant” for his clever scheme, but wish such a plan were put to better use.
“That’s brilliant… It’s wrong, of course. But imagine if this person could use his mind for good and not evil,” one user said.
Another person put together an idea of what a pasta LEGO set could look like.
Augustine was booked at the Orange County Jail on suspicion of grand theft.
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