IRVINE, Calif., April 19, 2026—A California man was arrested this month on theft charges after raking in about $34,000 in a Lego scheme.

In an online post Thursday, Irvine Police Department arrested Jarrell Augustine, 38, from Paramount, Calif., on charges of grand theft.

Augustine is accused of buying thousands of dollars of Lego kits and replacing the minifigures and pieces with uncooked pasta before returning the kits for refunds, according to information from the Irvine, Calif., police department.

Target reported at least 70 thefts nationwide tied to the same suspect to the tune of about $34,000.

Augustine was identified as the suspect after an Irvine Police Department investigation.

One of the sets identified in the arrest was Lego’s Marvel Avengers Tower, a 5,201-piece set, that retails for $500 from Lego (it can be found for less on other online sites).

Also in California, three men were arrested in April after being stopped with two box trucks of approximately $1 million worth of Lego products. And in October 2025, another California man was arrested who police said had “tens of thousands” of Lego pieces he allegedly trafficked.

Highly collectible

Legos have become a lucrative aftermarket business and the target of thieves due to collectability and resale.

For instance, the 2013 San Diego Comic-Con Spider-Man minifigure (also known as a minifig in Lego collector parlance) is valued at $15,341 on the BrickEconomy.com website, a site devoted to tracking current set and minifig values of aftermarket Legos.

Lego building bricks were first created in 1949 in Denmark, but were called Automatic Building Bricks then. Lego bricks were introduced to the United States in 1961.

Today, out-of-production Lego sets and minifigs can bring tens of thousands of dollars. Like the Spider-Man minifig mentioned above, the Legos Star Ward Cloud City set is also valued at $15,000 with an annual value growth rate of almost 16 percent.