On October 24, 2025, at approximately 1:00 P.M., Officer Host of the Brainerd Police Department received a report of a fraud incident that occurred at Ace Hardware, [ADDRESS REDACTED], Brainerd, Crow Wing County, Minnesota. Officer Host met at Ace Hardware with PB (fully identified in the police reports) who was the current manager that was working and had access to the camera systems. Host spoke to PB who stated a male, who was identified by the dishonored check that he issued to be Damon Roy Anderson [DOB REDACTED]. Host observed that prior to speaking with PB, dispatch had obtained this name from PB, and Host observed Anderson had several warrants for check fraud.
Upon speaking with PB, Host obtained a receipt which had all the items listed that were taken by Anderson, including an impact wrench kit, a battery pack, and two hex keys, which totaled $536.10. Host also obtained a copy of the insufficient check number 8065 which Host observed was signed and listed from Anderson and also had an address listed in Minneapolis. The dishonored check appeared to be linked to a Discover Money Market account. Host observed that the transaction from the receipt occurred on October 9, 2025, at 10:03 A.M. PB explained that Anderson had walked in the store and shopped around for a decent amount of time.
Anderson even went to employees, including PB, asking questions about certain items before eventually grabbing an item and purchasing it. PB showed Host two close up pictures of Anderson from their security cameras which had a blueish hue to it. However, Host observed the male was wearing a black hat with a large black letter. The male was also wearing dark colored sunglasses and a dark colored sweatshirt. PB also showed Host a picture on a Facebook page that she had found for Anderson where it appeared to be the same male also wearing a black hat with an undefined black letter on the hat.
Host later looked up Anderson's DVS photo and also saw several similarities between Anderson's DVS photo and the several suspect photos shown to Host including a salt and pepper colored stubbly beard, being a shorter white male, his overall face shape, and his facial features. Host reviewed video of the parking lot and observed that Anderson was driving a black SUV style vehicle. When doing a DVS photo search of Anderson, Host later observed Anderson had one vehicle listed under his name which had current registration with Minnesota license plate [PLATE REDACTED], a black 2011 Lincoln MKX. Host looked up a picture of a 2011 black Lincoln MKX and noted it appeared to be the same vehicle, noting specifically the overhang above the glass on the back hatch to be extremely similar, making Host suspect this was the vehicle that Anderson had been driving.
Host searched court records which revealed several pending charges of issuing dishonored checks dating back to 2018 with several active warrants. Host also discovered that Anderson had several addresses listed and appeared to move frequently. Host was unable to locate Anderson.
