CAWPS

Minnesota/Becker County

Episode 2 · Posted October 4, 2026

Five Days Later

A crow walks out of a Menards with $1,233.33 of merchandise and gets 13 months. The deputies do the math, and Dale worries about lumber.

Convicted

What the court record says

This episode is about a Crow Wing County man.Here is what the complaint and the sentencing order say.

  • A man and a woman entered a Menards store in Becker County on December 15, 2024 and left with merchandise valued at about $1,233.33 without paying for it, according to the complaint.
  • Store staff delivered a shoplifting report to Detroit Lakes police five days later. It included photographs taken from surveillance camera footage.
  • On January 29, 2025, a theft investigator for the store told police the man had been identified, the complaint states.
  • The investigator also reported a separate theft incident at a store in Brooklyn Park, where the man was arrested before he was able to leave the building.
  • He was on probation for a gross misdemeanor theft conviction at the time.
  • The court entered a felony theft conviction and sentenced him to 13 months in prison, with credit for 286 days served. The term runs concurrently with a Texas prison sentence.
  • The sentencing order imposed a $50 fine, and the record shows a total balance of $135. Restitution was reserved for 30 days.
Where
A Menards store in Detroit Lakes, Becker County, Minnesota
When
December 15, 2024
Charges
Felony theft (Minn. Stat. 609.52, subd. 2(a)(1))
Filed
May 22, 2025
Status
Convicted of felony theft. Sentenced on August 4, 2026 to 13 months in prison, with credit for 286 days already served.

This case ended in a conviction. The facts above come from the court record. The deputies' dialogue in the video is made up. The wooden cell bars are Dale's imagination. The cost per day is arithmetic on the amount and the sentence, and the rebate is a joke: the store is known for an 11 percent mail-in rebate, and his court balance happens to be about 11 percent of what was taken. The crow has no subtitled line because the record quotes nothing he said.

The paperwork, explained

Transcript
  1. On screenTOTAL $1,233.33
  2. Deputy DaleTotal: $1,233.33.
  3. Deputy LylePaid?
  4. Deputy DaleNo.
  5. On screenPAID $0.00
  6. On screenFIVE DAYS LATER
  7. Deputy LyleFive days. The store waited five days to tell us.
  8. Deputy DaleThey sent photos, Lyle! From the cameras!
  9. Deputy LyleAny suspects?
  10. Deputy DaleIt's a crow in a hat.
  11. Deputy LyleWhat did he take?
  12. Deputy Dale$1,233.33 of merchandise.
  13. Deputy LyleFrom Menards. So he saved big money.
  14. Deputy DaleHe saved all of it.
  15. Deputy DaleDo you think he mailed in for the 11% rebate?
  16. Deputy LyleOn stolen merchandise.
  17. Deputy DaleIt's 11%, Lyle.
  18. Deputy LyleSixteen months, Dale.
  19. On screenSIX WEEKS LATER
  20. Store investigatorWe identified your crow.
  21. Store investigatorHe did it again in Brooklyn Park. Never made it out the door.
  22. Deputy LyleSo the store solved it.
  23. Deputy DaleWe helped! I filed the form.
  24. On screen13 MONTHS IN PRISON
  25. Deputy DaleThirteen months. For twelve hundred dollars.
  26. Deputy LyleImagine doing a year for a thousand bucks.
  27. Deputy DaleI did the math! It comes to $3.12 a day.
  28. Deputy LyleHe's working below minimum wage.
  29. Deputy DaleAnd it runs concurrent with his Texas sentence.
  30. Deputy LyleHe's in Texas?
  31. Deputy DaleIn prison.
  32. Deputy LyleHe is already in prison. In Texas.
  33. Deputy DaleSo he does both at once! It's very efficient.
  34. On screenMeanwhile, in Texas.
  35. The crow[caws]
  36. On screenDALE IMAGINES
  37. Deputy DaleLyle. What if the cell bars are made of Menards lumber?
  38. Deputy LyleThen he walks right out.
  39. Deputy LyleAnd those are the straight ones.
  40. Deputy DaleFine's fifty dollars.
  41. Deputy LyleHe took twelve hundred.
  42. Deputy DaleForm says fifty.
  43. Deputy DaleTotal balance: $135.
  44. Deputy LyleA hundred and thirty-five.
  45. Deputy DaleLyle. That's 11%.
  46. Deputy LyleHe got the rebate.
  47. Deputy LyleI should have been a crow.
  48. Deputy DaleYou would need a hat, Lyle.

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