On June 9, 2025, Hopkins Police were dispatched to an employee theft report at Holiday, located at [ADDRESS REDACTED] North in Hopkins, Hennepin County. Police responded and spoke with the manager J. J. Regarding an employee that had stolen from Holiday on approximately May 26, 2025, prior to resigning. The employee was identified as JAMIE LEANNE COLES [DOB REDACTED], Defendant herein. J. J. Told police that money and lottery tickets were discovered missing and provided police video footage from the store.
On June 24, 2025, an investigator with the Alcohol and Gambling Enforcement Division (AGED) was assigned to the case and later obtained the flash drives of the footage. The investigator noted that J. J. Had called the Minnesota State Lottery to report the theft of lottery tickets after noticing that the tickets at the end of the packs were missing the last ten tickets. When J. J. Reviewed surveillance, they observed Defendant activating the packs and removing the tickets from the end of the four packs.
The Minnesota State Lotter identified the stolen tickets as tickets 90-99 in ticket book 2007-45172, tickets 46-49 in ticket book 2029-25747, tickets 90-99 in ticket book 2039-17891, and tickets 90-99 in ticket book 2039-17892. The Minnesota Lottery identified tickets that were cashed on May 26, 2026, at the Holiday store. Defendant cashed tickets from ticket book 2039-17891 titled "Money Rush" and tickets from ticket book 2007-45172 titled "Slingo Stars and Stripes," for a total value of $151. The AGED investigator reviewed surveillance and identified the individual at the store's counter with the lottery tickets to match the Defendant.
Additionally, Defendant can be seen getting into a dark colored Mazda 3, which matches the vehicle registered to Defendant. On August 15, 2025, the AGED investigator and Hopkins Police went and spoke with Defendant. Defendant told police they had recently quit and admitted to "taking a few" of the lottery tickets and would accept responsibility for it. Defendant admitted to taking the tickets in the back of the pack and then later cashing the tickets at the store. At present, Defendant is not in custody.
