Lego Bandit Pasta Scheme

Irvine police arrested Augustine after Target reported at least 70 such thefts tied to the suspect.

The scheme involved purchasing high-value Lego sets, removing the minifigures and key pieces, and then stuffing the boxes with pasta to match the original weight before returning them for a refund.

Officials described the operation as 'off the charts' and highly sophisticated.

Augustine faces multiple counts of grand theft as investigators look into the full scale of the nationwide scheme.