Overview
- Police arrested Jarrelle Augustine, 28, of Paramount, on a grand theft charge and booked him into the Orange County Jail.
- Investigators say he bought high-end LEGO sets from Target, removed valuable minifigures and parts, then returned the boxes, sometimes filled with dried pasta to mimic the rattle.
- Target linked roughly 70 returns across multiple states to the pattern, with estimated losses of about $34,000.
- Irvine police say surveillance footage and transaction records identified Augustine, and a search recovered loose LEGO pieces and bags of pasta.
- The investigation continues into linked returns in California and states such as Texas, Tennessee, New Jersey, and Florida, which could lead to more charges and tighter checks of sealed boxes.