On January 2, 2026, at approximately 1818 hours, local law enforcement officers were dispatched to the Target store at 3301 Highway 10 East in the City of Moorhead, County of Clay, State of Minnesota for the report of shoplifting. The caller reported that two people, a male and a female, left the store with concealed merchandise and two stolen backpacks. It was reported the female had a pocketknife and made quick motions with some locked up headphones. The pair was seen headed towards Highway 10 East on foot.
The female was described as a white female with blonde hair, wearing a black coat and white hat. The male was identified as a white or Native American male, wearing a red sweatshirt and a Chicago Bulls winter cap. The caller stated the two had taken backpacks with earbuds and clothing inside, with one backpack being gray and one being purple. Dilworth Police Officer J. Stetz located two people matching the description walking northbound in the 10 block of 34th St. N. Ofc. Stetz made contact with the two people and the male, later identified as Michael Lee Dumont [DOB REDACTED](hereinafter "Defendant"), ran southbound towards Highway 10. Ofc.
Stetz ordered Defendant to stop multiple times but Defendant kept running. Ofc. Stetz pursued Defendant on foot and Defendant stopped and held a knife to his own throat. Defendant was placed in handcuffs and two backpacks were removed from his back. One of the backpacks was a gray Champion brand backpack, which was determined to be stolen from Target. A search incident to arrest was conducted and multiple items of suspected stolen merchandise were found. Officers located the knife Defendant had thrown.
A search of the gray backpack yielded additional suspected stolen items, as did a search of Defendant's personal backpack found on his person. Officers were not able to locate the female, who was last seen near Ofc. Stetz's patrol car when Ofc. Stetz pursued Defendant on foot, but did find a discarded maroon Champion brand backpack near Ofc. Stetz's vehicle. The maroon backpack also contained additional suspected stolen merchandise. A black jacket was also found. The items found were taken into the Target store and determined to have a total value of $643.02. Officers obtained a photo of the female from Target's surveillance footage and identified her as Tatum Paige Benson (hereinafter "Benson"). The black jacket found was believed to be Benson's and was found to be from Walmart.
The jacket's inner tag showed a clean cut as if it was cut with a blade. A search of Defendant's criminal history shows five previous felony convictions including two felony assault convictions, one threats of violence conviction, one fifth degree possession of controlled substance conviction and one escape conviction. The Defendant also has a pending felony assault case in Clay County, MN.
