A 48-year-old Fridley man has been charged after police say he was caught on surveillance footage taking an employee’s cell phone from a beer display at a liquor store and walking out without returning it.
Alleged Theft at Fridley Liquor
According to the criminal complaint filed October 15, 2025, in Anoka County District Court, Jeremy Gareth Wall was charged with gross misdemeanor theft after a reported incident at Fridley Liquor, located at 264 57th Avenue NE.
Police were first called to the store on October 14, 2025, around 12:24 p.m., when an employee reported that another worker’s iPhone 15, valued between $550 and $600, had been taken the previous evening.
Surveillance footage from October 13 at approximately 6:12 p.m. showed a man—later identified as Wall—inside the store wearing a white T-shirt, black pants, and a green Callaway golf hat. The video depicts him picking up a phone from atop a beer display, placing it in his front left pocket, and then proceeding to the checkout counter where he purchased a pack of Rolling Rock beer before leaving the store.
The phone’s owner, identified in the report as T.T., had set it down while cleaning and forgotten it. Another employee, T.N., reported the incident to police after noticing the missing phone.
Suspect Returns to Store
Later that afternoon, around 3:46 p.m., officers were dispatched back to Fridley Liquor when employees reported that the same man had returned. Police located a gray Lincoln SUV parked in front of the store and made contact with Wall, who matched the suspect description.
Wall denied stealing the phone, telling officers he had come only to “buy beer.” When asked if he had been at the store earlier in the week, he admitted that he had.
Officers reviewed the store’s surveillance footage on-site and confirmed that the man in the video was Wall, whom Officer Vang recognized from previous police contacts.
Charges Filed
Following review of the video evidence and statements from store staff, Fridley police forwarded the case to the Anoka County Attorney’s Office. Prosecutors charged Wall with:
- Theft—Take/Use/Transfer Movable Property Without Consent, in violation of Minn. Stat. 609.52.2(a)(1).
The charge carries a maximum penalty of 364 days in jail, a $3,000 fine, or both.
The case was reviewed and approved by Assistant County Attorney John Lovasz. Judge Karin McCarthy found probable cause and signed an order for detention.
Ongoing Case
Court documents indicate that Wall was already in custody at the time of charging and remains detained pending his first court appearance in Anoka County District Court.
The incident adds to a recent increase in retail theft reports within Fridley and surrounding communities, where officers have been responding to multiple small-scale property crimes involving cell phones, tools, and alcohol products.
All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. This report is based solely on information contained in an Anoka County District Court criminal complaint filed October 15, 2025.
