He stole Lego pieces, put dried pasta in the box, police say. Shake it, they 'make the same sound'

This is read by an automated voice.Please report any issues or inconsistencies here.

Irvine police have arrested a man on suspicion of stealing Lego pieces by removing them from their boxes and replacing them with dried pasta.The man would then allegedly return the boxes to Target for a refund.

The scheme — carried out in states across the country — added up to $34,000 in stolen or damaged property from 70 known or suspected incidents, according to investigators.Jarrelle Augustine, 28, faces a charge of grand theft and was booked Tuesday at the Orange County Jail.

He was arrested at an apartment in Paramount but is from Texas, said Ziggy Azarcon, public information officer for the Irvine Police Department.According to Irvine police, the department became involved in December after Augustine bought and then returned two Lego sets — with a combined value of $350 — from a Target store in Irvine.He was connected to other suspicious merchandise returns through credit card records.

All told, he may be responsible for about $4,000 in stolen or damaged merchandise from Targets in Orange County since November, Azarcon said.Police said Augustine identified Lego sets with high-value collectible pieces, bought them and brought them to his residence.Sometimes, he simply removed the valuable pieces, police said.

Other times, police said, he swapped out the entire set with dried pasta.If you shake the Lego boxes with the swapped contents, “they basically make the same sound,” Azarcon said.“Creative — that’s for sure.

This is something that we haven’t seen done before, so it was definitely unique for our investigators to be able to put this together piece by piece.”At the suspect’s residence, investigators found enough contraband Lego pieces to fill two garbage bags.Although the alleged heist method was unique, the targeting of Lego is not.Lego thefts have been recorded across the country, many with high-value hauls.In Charlotte, N.C., a former Wells...