On March 7, 2026, at 5:36 P.M., Apple Valley police officers responded to a report of a shoplifting in progress at a business in the City of Apple Valley, Dakota County, Minnesota. There was a female inside the store attempting to pay for merchandise with financial cards that kept being declined, and a male, later identified as the above-named defendant, Theodore James Kolk, had left the store with the unpaid for merchandise and was driving around the business parking lot in a vehicle. The female then also left the store without paying for the merchandise the defendant had left with previously.
Surveillance video later showed the female and the defendant walking around the store holding hands and placing it into a basket. The officers located the vehicle driven by the defendant circling the parking lot and stopped it. The officer located the stolen merchandise in the vehicle and the value was later determined to be $1,319.51. The officer placed the defendant under arrest and searched him incident to arrest. The officer located a plastic bag on the defendant that contained a white crystalline substance.
The white crystalline substance was later preliminarily tested, and the test indicated the presence of methamphetamine, and it weighed 20.62 grams. The defendant told the officer that he had just purchased the bag of methamphetamine just prior to going to the business. The defendant’s Minnesota driving privileges are currently revoked.
