On January 8, 2026, Crystal Police responded to a report of a theft occurring at the Speedway located at 7818 36th Ave N, Crystal, Hennepin County. The store manager told Police that an employee, JENNIFER LEE WARD (“Defendant”), had stolen $2024.75 from Speedway in a series of fraudulent transactions occurring late the night before. The manager told Police that Speedway offers a service where customers can load cash onto Chime debit cards for a service fee. Defendant and the store manager are the only employees authorized to make these transactions.
In five transactions occurring between approximately 10:14 P.M. On January 7, and 4:23 A.M. On January 8, Defendant loaded a total of $2,000 onto Chime debit cards but did not deposit the corresponding cash nor did she pay the $24.75 in service fees. Police obtained surveillance video showing Defendant making the fraudulent transactions. In the video, the drawer of the cash register pops open during each transaction, but Defendant closes the drawer without putting any cash inside. Police obtained text messages in which the manager confronts Defendant about the transactions.
Defendant claimed she “forgot” to deposit the cash in the cash register because she was distracted when “a customer came in and wanted a pizza.” But no customer is visible on the surveillance video during any of the transactions.
