Overview
- Irvine police say the pair bought boxed sets, pulled the collectible minifigures, then returned the tampered kits for refunds at several stores the same day.
- Officers identified the suspects as Adriana Esquerra Gonzalez, 29, and Luis Alfredo Quintanilla Pompa, 30, who are from Tijuana and now face shoplifting charges.
- After the arrest, a search of their car turned up loose Lego parts that police say were taken from the sets.
- Investigators are working with regional loss-prevention teams to identify any other stores hit in the spree.
- In a related Irvine case days earlier, police arrested Jarrelle Augustine, 28, who is accused of swapping Legos with bags of dried pasta in at least 70 returns totaling about $34,000.