That on January 29, 2026, at approximately 12:11 P.M., officers were notified of a stolen vehicle near the area of Technology Drive and Flying Cloud Drive in Eden Prairie, Hennepin County, Minnesota. Officers tracked the vehicle to the Costco parking lot and observed it was currently unoccupied. Officers confirmed the vehicle was listed as stolen out of St. Paul. Officers obtained surveillance video footage from Costco and observed a female, subsequently identified as TANYA NAOMI EARLES, hereafter defendant, had driven the vehicle to the store, exited the vehicle, and entered Costco.
Officers located defendant as she was exiting the store and arrested her. During a search incident to arrest, officers located the key fob to the vehicle in her possession. Defendant admitted she rented the vehicle, was unable to continue making rental payments, but elected to keep the vehicle despite not making payments. Officers learned the registered owner of the vehicle had rented the vehicle to defendant, that defendant stopped making payments, that the registered owner used various means to contact the defendant to seek return of the vehicle, but that defendant failed to respond to these efforts and kept the vehicle without permission.
At present, defendant is in custody.
