On December 16, 2024, law enforcement responded to a report of a theft at a Casey's General Store on Bench Street in Taylors Falls, Chisago County, Minnesota. Law enforcement spoke with employees there that described what had occurred. M. R. G., a cashier at the store, stated that a black individual (the "Suspect") entered the store and purchased two Netspend Paypal gift cards valued at $500 each. The transaction was presented to M. R. G. As a financial card transaction, but the transaction was actually processed as a cash transaction.
The store did not receive funds from a financial card and the Suspect did not provide any cash or other compensation for the transaction. The Suspect left the store with the activated cards and entered a black SUV. Receipts from this transaction show that the two purchases were made at 10:23 AM on December 16, 2024. Each card cost $502.95, including an activation fee of $2.95, for a total value of $1005.90. Part of the purchase process requires the purchaser to provide an age verification. The age verification date used by the Suspect was 12/08/2004. M. R. G. Also stated that another black female also entered the store with the Suspect.
This female used the same scheme to "purchase" $800 worth of lottery tickets. This individual similarly presented a card to pay for the tickets, but the transaction was ran as cash and no cash or other compensation was given. M. R. G. Realized what was occurring after the transaction was completed and tried to stop the female, but she ran out of the store and entered the same black SUV. The Minnesota State Lottery later placed a hold on the stolen tickets. Law enforcement obtained the surveillance video from the incident showing the suspects and the vehicle they left in.
Law enforcement obtained information from the gift card company, Netspend, that showed the gift cards were setup for use on December 16, 2024 at approximately 10:30AM. They were activated via phone call. One was activated from a phone number ending in 0276 (the "Phone Number"). The data gathered from Netspend also showed that the gift cards were used at a Walmart in St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin, on December 16, 2024, at 10:51 AM. Law enforcement obtained surveillance video from Walmart showing the transaction involving the stolen gift cards.
The video showed the Suspect from Caseys using the cards to buy merchandise. The suspect was wearing the same purple sweatshirt with white lettering in both the video from Casey's and the video from Walmart. Law enforcement searched the Phone Number in various databases. They obtained a match showing that the Phone Number was associated with an investigation into a similar theft in Virginia. One of the two suspects in this theft was LABRIAH SHALEEMON VINCENT [DOB REDACTED], Defendant herein. Notably, Defendant's date of birth matches the age verification date used by the Suspect to obtain the gift cards.
