Corey Jermaine Coutee

On March 22, 2026, at 2:02 P.M. Officers with the Stillwater Police Department were dispatched to the Target store located at [ADDRESS REDACTED] in the city of Stillwater, Washington County, regarding a theft in progress. Dispatch advised that the suspect was currently at a checkout lane, and was known to Target loss prevention, having just stolen merchandise from the Hudson Target store. Officer Frank arrived on scene first and located a male matching the suspect description walking towards the exit doors.

Officer Frank detained the suspect, identified as COREY JERMAINE COUTEE, [DOB REDACTED], and brought him to the asset protection office where loss prevention employees identified COUTEE as the suspect in question. Loss prevention employees explained that earlier that afternoon, COUTEE had gone to the Hudson Target store and stolen two breast pumps valued $421.98 total. COUTEE completed that theft by using a fraudulent/fake debit card. When the transaction did not initially go through, COUTEE convinced the cashier to push a special button on the register that overrode the initial decline and made it seem as though the fraudulent debit card was now working.

COUTEE did not offer any other form of payment for the pumps, and the cashier was left thinking that the transaction had gone through successfully. When loss prevention checked the register's balance, it was short the $421.98 that COUTEE did not pay for the pumps. COUTEE arrived at the Stillwater Target store with the two stolen pumps and proceeded to the customer service desk where he returned them. COUTEE received $421.98 in cash for the return. COUTEE then selected $107.40 worth of merchandise and proceeded to a checkout lane.

COUTEE also selected two gift cards and asked the cashier to add $400 to each card, for a total purchase of $907.40. COUTEE presented a fraudulent debit card as payment, and when the card was declined, convinced the cashier to push the special override button, which led the cashier to believe that the transaction had successfully gone through. When Stillwater loss prevention checked the register's balances, it was short the $907.40 that COUTEE did not actually pay for the merchandise and gift cards.

COUTEE was arrested. During a search incident to arrest, officers located the $422 in cash and receipt that COUTEE had just received from the pump return and a fraudulent debit card from "Fifth Third Bank." Loss prevention stated that COUTEE was involved in similar thefts from Target stores in Fridley and St. Louis Park on March 21, 2026. During a post-Miranda statement, COUTEE stated that he works for a person named "Pops" who drove him to the Stillwater Target store to complete the theft. COUTEE also mentioned that he lives in Iowa.

COUTEE remains in custody at the Washington County Jail.