On July 31, 2025, Eagan police officers were dispatched to a business on Yankee Doodle Road in Eagan, Dakota County, Minnesota, on report of a theft in progress. Dispatch advised that the reporting party stated a female tried to steal from the store and was fighting with staff. It was reported that the female suspect had a pocketknife and threatened the staff with it. The suspect was described as a black female wearing a black baseball hat and having red and yellow dreads. The reporting party indicated that the suspect eventually left on foot, westbound on Yankee Doodle Road.
Officers were able to locate and identify the female suspect as TRINA DENICE ARNOLD [DOB REDACTED]. Officers took a statement from the employee who was involved, herein “Victim.” Victim identified ARNOLD as the person who stole from the business and was involved in the incident. Victim stated that ARNOLD and another female entered the business and were shopping together. The other female that was with ARNOLD made a legitimate purchase while ARNOLD went around the store concealing merchandise. ARNOLD concealed a wig that was worth approximately $27 and walked past all points of final sale out of the store.
Victim confronted ARNOLD about the theft in the parking lot outside the store. ARNOLD continued to walk away from Victim. Both ARNOLD and the woman who was with ARNOLD denied anything was stolen from the store/ Victim reached out to grab ARNOLD’s purse, to recover the merchandise from the store. ARNOLD punched Victim in the nose with a closed fist and grabbed Victim around the shirt of her neck. Victim [NAME REDACTED] from the punch. During this, a necklace worth approximately $600 was ripped off Victim’s neck and broken.
ARNOLD then brandished a pocketknife with the blade exposed toward Victim. Victim heard ARNOLD say something along the lines of, “Let me go, or I will kill you.” Victim [NAME REDACTED]. A witness also saw ARNOLD pull out a pocketknife with the blade displayed toward Victim [NAME REDACTED]. The stolen merchandise was returned to Victim [NAME REDACTED] during the incident. Officers located a pocketknife on ARNOLD’s person when they made contact with her. In a Mirandized statement, ARNOLD admitted to being in the store and stealing from the store.
ARNOLD said that when a staff member of the store confronted her outside in the parking lot, she returned the stolen item to them. ARNOLD admitted to brandishing a knife during the altercation. ARNOLD said that other 2 19HA-CR-25-2064 Filed in District Court State of Minnesota 12/2/2025 individuals, who were not the same initial store employee, circled her and attempted to look in her purse even after the merchandise was returned. That is when she pulled the knife out of her bra and brandied it. ARNOLD said she did not stab anyone with it but held it.
