A man from California has been apprehended for allegedly orchestrating an audacious scheme involving Lego sets and uncooked pasta.

Authorities report that 28-year-old Jarrelle Augustine of Paramount is accused of purchasing expensive Lego kits from Target stores nationwide on at least 70 occasions, removing the original pieces and minifigures, and replacing them with bags of uncooked pasta before returning the sets to receive refunds.

The Irvine Police Department states that Augustine’s fraudulent activities resulted in over $34,000 worth of transactions before his arrest on Thursday. He now faces charges of grand theft.

Target employees began to suspect foul play when customers returned with complaints after discovering pasta instead of the expected Lego pieces in their purchases. This led to investigations and increased scrutiny of returned merchandise, as reported by Fox 8.

Once the police were notified of the unusual crime, officers conducted surveillance at various Target locations across Orange County, eventually identifying Augustine as the primary suspect.

Among the evidence police have collected is an instruction book for building a Star Wars Venator-Class Attack Cruiser, which retails for $80, according to photos the police department released online.

Another picture showed the box to a Marvel Avengers Tower Building Set, a 5,201-piece kit that retails for $500 on the Lego website. 

Several bags of Goya brand elbow-shaped pasta, which sell for less than $2 a bag, are seen in front of the box. 

Jarrelle Augustine, 28, of Paramount, was arrested on Thursday in connection with a nationwide scheme in which he would swap out Lego pieces for uncooked pasta

Target officials eventually caught on to his thieving ways after customers purchased the Lego sets, found pasta instead, and complained to employees at their stores 

Augustine was booked into the Orange County jail for his alleged crimes, but has since been released, The New York Times reports. 

In the meantime, Target is expected to continue auditing its inventory to determine whether any other pasta-filled boxes remain on the shelves or in the return cycle, Fox 11 reports.

Prosecutors will also review the 70-linked cases to determine whether any additional charges could be filed across the various jurisdictions where the thefts occurred.

But Augustine is not the only alleged thief to target Legos.

On April 8, three California men were charged with cargo theft after being stopped while fleeing in two box trucks filled with $1 million worth of the plastic bricks, and in October, police in the Golden State broke up a Lego theft ring that focused on reselling small character figurines. 

Some thieves have even managed to grab more than $100,000 worth of Legos in burglaries – as the bricks can sell for hundreds of dollars, according to The Times.

The Lego Death Star retails for about $1,000, for example, and some kits and minifigures have seen their prices widely market up, such as the Lego San Diego Comic-Con 2013 Spider-Man, which is assessed at more than $15,000, according to BrickEconomy, a site dedicated to the economics of Legos. 

Read Hayes, a research scientist and criminologist at the University of Florida who also serves as executive director of the Loss Prevention Research Council, said it was possible Augustine’s use of uncooked pasta was meant to simulate the sound the pieces make inside the box.

A photo released by the Irvine Police Department showed the box to a Marvel Avengers Tower Building Set, a 5,201-piece kit that retails for $500 on the Lego website. Several bags of Goya brand elbow-shaped pasta, which sell for less than $2 a bag, are seen in front of the box

Another photo showed the manual to building a Star Wars Venator-Class Attack Cruiser, which retails for $80

‘They’re not just stolen, they’re highly purchased,’ he said of the brick-building toy.

‘Legos seem to be fairly persistent because they’re very good at coming out with new, desirable things,’ Hayes noted of the company, which has expanded its market to include Lego kits aimed at adults – including a model of the Notre-Dame cathedral.

But the Irvine Police Department is now urging others not to replicate Augustine’s scheme.

‘If your master plan involves swapping Legos for linguine, we can promise your plan will be cooked al dente,’ the department wrote on Facebook. 

The Daily Mail has reached out to Target for comment. 

Rob Gronkowski, the former NFL standout, has hinted at a potential comeback for his ex-teammate Tom Brady, but not in the way fans might expect.

Gronkowski suggested that Brady, who officially hung up his cleats in 2023, might venture into the wrestling arena following a recent spat with Logan Paul.

The legendary quarterback, who clinched seven Super Bowl titles, found himself in an unexpected clash with Paul earlier this year after he questioned the wrestler’s athletic prowess.

As the excitement builds for WrestleMania 42 in Las Vegas this weekend, Gronkowski speculated that Brady could be gearing up to enter the ring and demonstrate his own skills to Paul.

“It makes sense because Tom and Logan Paul have been at odds for a couple of months now,” Gronkowski explained, sharing his thoughts exclusively with the Daily Mail in collaboration with DoorDash before the WrestleMania event.

‘I thought they were going to fight at the flag football game, but it just didn’t come to that situation, which is good. We didn’t need any fights on that flag football field. 

Former NFL star Rob Gronkowski (left) has suggested Tom Brady (right) could try wrestling 

‘It’s a friendly game, it’s a family game but I thought they would take it out here at WrestleMania, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s here, but I don’t know if he is or not.’  

Brady had dismissed Paul’s athlete chops as ‘cute’ while claiming he lacks the toughness of football players back in February ahead of the Fanatics Flag Football Classic event.

In response, Paul argued that he could beat the majority of NFL athletes in a fight – a statement which has sparked fierce debate – before the pair further ignited their feud after both playing in the flag football showdown in March.

Many questioned how real Paul and Brady’s apparent disdain for one another is, instead rubbishing it as an attempt to generate attention.

One insider previously claimed to the Daily Mail that they were only playing on the feud to promote a potential storyline that could see Brady appear at the WWE’s showpiece WrestleMania event and disrupt Paul’s match on the night.

‘I think he would do great,’ Gronkowski added when asked about how he thinks Brady would fare in the ring. 

‘I don’t think he’d be like a full-time wrestler and actually have a match. I think he would have like a little cameo, kind of like Jelly Roll last night, how he dropped Pat McAfee through the announcing table, which was epic. That was fun.’ 

Polarizing ESPN star McAfee was forced to exit WrestleMania on a stretcher after being sent through a table by singer Jelly Roll on Saturday night.

Brady became embroiled in a feud with Logan Paul ever since he mocked the wrestler’s ability

Former YouTuber Paul competed at WreslteMania 42 in Las Vegas on Saturday night

‘I watched all of WrestleMania yesterday in my hotel room,’ Gronkowski added. ‘It was a blast. I would say a little cameo like that for Tom, where he jumps off top rope and like elbows somebody and like takes their hat and throws it like a football.’ 

When pressed about his friend’s assessment of ‘cute’ wrestling, Gronkowski brushed it off as trash talk, insisting that Brady respects the sport. 

‘Tom is just becoming a professional trash-talker now,’ he said. ‘I’m sure he respects everyone’s craft and he was just going at it with Logan Paul at the moment.

‘But I thought it was great – I thought it was entertaining – them two going at it and Tom talking trash about the WWE and that it’s cute. And Logan Paul going back at Tom, talking about his football career. All of that was fun and games. It was cool and fun to watch a collaboration of Tom going at it with a couple wrestlers and everyone talking garbage back and forth.’

He continued: ‘I respect everything that the WWE wrestlers do, the hard work that goes in. I’m sure Tom does, too. 

‘Like I said, he was just being cute with his comments but I respect everything they do – from their lifting regime to how they’ve got to prepare for the matches in the ring to being able to memorize all of their promotions and going out in the ring and talking all of the garbage in front of millions of fans. I respect everything that they do big time.’ 

Gronkowski, who won four Super Bowls alongside Brady, is set to host Gronk Beach in Las Vegas later on Sunday night. 

The event will serve as the official afterparty of WrestleMania, sponsored by DoorDash. Before the action got underway, the former football player was spotted on the Vegas strip interacting with fans. 

In partnership with the delivery service app and Medium Rare, Gronkowski played a game with fans in front of the Fountains of Bellagio to see what they had in their bag with DoorDash vouchers being awarded as prizes.