On September 21, 2025, DPS, [DOB REDACTED], reported that he had lost his wallet. The wallet contained his Mastercard ending in 4549. He learned that someone used the card without his permission at the Menards, [ADDRESS REDACTED], Maplewood, Ramsey County, in the amount of $1204.12, and at the Maplewood Home Depot, in the amount of $311.90, on September 21, 2025, at 0938 hours and 0937 hours, respectively. Video captured Christopher Lee Berendt, [DOB REDACTED], and Kenneth John McNeal, [DOB REDACTED], in Menards purchasing merchandise and pushing it out to a white Chevrolet Silverado registered to Berendt.
McNeal is the party who used the stolen credit card during that transaction. Security footage showed that same vehicle going to the Home Depot. Berendt went inside and used the stolen credit card to make the purchase. There was a passenger in the vehicle who did not enter the store with Berendt during that transaction. In a phone interview, Berendt admitted to being the person shown in the Menards and Home Depot footage, but he stated that the other male, a prospective client, gave him the card to purchase the items at Home Depot.
He denied knowing that the card was stolen. He said that the customer “ghosted” him after the purchases, and he lost the job. Berendt never got back to the investigator with additional information about the other male. McNeal is identified by a physical appearance and by a unique tattoo on his hand. Investigators could not reach McNeal for an interview.
