On January 4, 2026, at approximately 1:58 P.M. Officer Richey was dispatched to a burglary at Dragon Forge Games, [address omitted], Brainerd, Crow Wing County, Minnesota. The reporting party, MM (fully identified in the police reports) told dispatch that someone had broken into the business overnight, taken items, and started a fire. MM reported to dispatch that a white female in her 30s or 40s, had come in through the Laurel Street door and was wearing glasses and a long winter coat. It should be noted that Dragon Forge Games houses the business on the ground floor, but there are residential apartments above the business that are occupied.
Officer Richey arrived and made contact with an employee, XM (fully identified in the police reports). XM stated he was the one who located the burglary. XM stated he locked the business up the night before (January 3, 2026) between 10:00 P.M. And 11:00 P.M., and when he returned today (January 4, 2026) at approximately 1:00 P.M., he observed that the entry door on the south side of the building had something wrong with the door handle. XM stated the door was latched but could be pushed open now and it had not been like that before.
XM stated it appeared someone had forced the door open and it no longer worked properly. XM told Officer Richey when he entered the store, he started noticing things out of place behind the counter. There were open bottles of soda pop, a half-eaten beef stick, and a board game was taken out of the box and scattered around. XM said he entered the back storeroom and smelled smoke. XM stated he looked around and located a large burned patch on the door frame of the storeroom. XM explained he then checked the camera and discovered the above-described female came into the building, drank soda and ate food, used a lighter for light to see by to search around the building, and had entered the storeroom with the lighter lit.
XM printed a receipt of the items that had been consumed and a dice set that was missing. The total for the receipt was $27.99. Officer Richey inspected the storeroom and observed an approximately two-foot section of the back storeroom doorframe that had been burnt. There was burnt insulation and the wood around the area was scorched and blackened. There were also two cardboard boxes inside the storeroom that had been lit on fire. Officer Richey took photographs of everything which were attached to this report.
It should be noted that at approximately 4:21 A.M. That morning, (January 4, 2026) Brainerd Fire Department had been dispatched to the address for a smell of smoke. A resident in the apartments over Dragon Forge Games called and stated they smelled smoke. The fire department responded but did not locate the source of the smoke at the time. XM allowed Officer Richey to view the camera footage and Officer Richey confirmed everything that XM had told Officer Richey. Officer Richey sent photographs of the female to other officers and Sgt.
