On September 26, 2025, Cottage Grove police officer Foster was dispatched to the Menards store, City of Cottage Grove, Washington County related to a shoplifting incident. Upon arrival, Ofc. Foster spoke with the manager and learned the following: earlier on 9/26/25, a male wearing a grey t-shirt and jeans walked into the store, selected a Masterforce BOOST 20-Volt Brushless Cordless 1/2" High Torque Impact Wrench Kit (Model number 5739 and SKU 2410377), then walked out of the store with the item, without offering payment.
The value of the wrench kit was $349.99. The male proceeded to a motor vehicle bearing HYE633, entered the passenger side, and then the vehicle drove away. On October 7, 2025, Woodbury police officer T. Johnson responded to the Target store, [ADDRESS REDACTED], City of Woodbury, Washington County, on a report of a shoplifting incident. Upon arrival, Ofc. Johnson spoke with Target loss prevention staff and learned the following: earlier on 10/7/2025, a male had entered the store, selected $339.98 worth of Target merchandise and then exited the store without paying for the items, and without other permission.
The male ultimately entered a motor vehicle bearing HYE633 in the parking lot and then left the area. A male matching the description of the suspect in the 9/26/25 and 10/7/25 theft incident was subject to a traffic stop by a Cottage Grove police officer on unrelated matter on October 9, 2025. The male, identified during the traffic stop as COLE JOHN KIEFFER [DOB REDACTED], confirmed he was the male who took the wrench kit on 9/26/25 from Menards in a Mirandized statement. Det. Myers reviewed surveillance stills, DVS photographs and footage from the 10/9/2025 traffic stop.
Det. Myers determined KIEFFER to be the male involved in the theft of $339.8 worth of Target merchandise on 10/7/2025. In total between the two incidents, KIEFFER stole property worth $689.97. KIEFFER has a prior felony theft conviction from 9/18/2025 (see CFN: 19HA-CR-25-358). This prior theft conviction is used to enhance the current charge.
