{"id":35151,"date":"2026-06-27T08:28:27","date_gmt":"2026-06-27T13:28:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/?p=35151"},"modified":"2026-06-27T08:28:27","modified_gmt":"2026-06-27T13:28:27","slug":"detroit-lakes-man-sentenced-in-menards-theft-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/detroit-lakes-man-sentenced-in-menards-theft-case\/","title":{"rendered":"Detroit Lakes Man Sentenced in Menards Theft Case"},"content":{"rendered":"<article>\n<h2>Detroit Lakes Man Sentenced in Menards Theft Case<\/h2>\n<p><strong>DETROIT LAKES<\/strong> (<a href=\"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">trfnews.i234.me<\/a>) \u2014 Gary Lee Watson, 47, has been sentenced in a gross misdemeanor theft case.<\/p>\n<p>The case involved merchandise taken from Menards in Detroit Lakes.<\/p>\n<p>Watson received a 364-day jail sentence on April 27 in Becker County District Court.<\/p>\n<p>The court stayed 361 days for two years.<\/p>\n<p>Watson received credit for the three days already served.<\/p>\n<p>Felony charges from a separate electric bicycle case were dismissed under a plea agreement.<\/p>\n<h2>Electric Bicycle Case<\/h2>\n<p>Court records say an electric bicycle was stolen during the early hours of August 5, 2025.<\/p>\n<p>The theft happened near Washington Avenue and Holmes Street in Detroit Lakes.<\/p>\n<p>The bicycle was a Himiway D5 ST all-terrain electric fat bike.<\/p>\n<p>Court documents valued the bicycle at $2,299.<\/p>\n<p>Investigators alleged that a lock was cut before the bicycle was taken.<\/p>\n<p>On August 18, a Becker County deputy saw Watson riding another bicycle near <a href=\"https:\/\/www.minnesota.edu\/about\/campuses\/detroit-lakes-campus\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">M State<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The bicycle did not have illuminated lights, according to the records.<\/p>\n<p>Watson reportedly matched the description of the person shown in surveillance footage.<\/p>\n<p>He initially denied knowing about the missing electric bicycle.<\/p>\n<p>After viewing surveillance images, Watson said he knew where the bicycle was located.<\/p>\n<p>Court records say he led officers to grass near the Apex townhomes on Pelican Lane.<\/p>\n<p>Officers recovered the bicycle there, according to the records.<\/p>\n<figure style=\"text-align: center; margin: 25px auto;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.co.becker.mn.us\/dept\/sheriff\/jail.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" style=\"display: block; width: 218px; max-width: 450px; height: 264px; margin: 0px auto;\" src=\"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Gary-Lee-Watson.png\" alt=\"Gary Lee Watson booking photo\" \/><br \/>\n<\/a><figcaption style=\"margin-top: 8px;\">Gary Lee Watson booking photo. Source: Becker County Jail.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2>Menards Theft Case<\/h2>\n<p>The plea agreement centered on a September 12, 2025, theft at Menards.<\/p>\n<p>Store security detained Watson during that incident.<\/p>\n<p>Watson produced a Bosch rechargeable battery and a Bosch cordless impact wrench.<\/p>\n<p>Court records say he admitted intending to take both items.<\/p>\n<p>Investigators also linked him to a multi-tool taken during an earlier store visit.<\/p>\n<p>The combined value of the merchandise was listed at $519.99.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.revisor.mn.gov\/statutes\/cite\/609.52\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Minnesota law<\/a> allows certain theft amounts within six months to be combined.<\/p>\n<p>The resulting charge was handled as a gross misdemeanor.<\/p>\n<h2>Sentence and Restitution<\/h2>\n<p>Watson was ordered to pay about $933 in restitution.<\/p>\n<p>He was also fined $150 and assessed $160 in court fees.<\/p>\n<p>The court placed Watson on supervised probation for two years.<\/p>\n<p>He must complete cognitive skills training.<\/p>\n<p>He must also follow any required cognitive behavioral programming.<\/p>\n<p>A gross misdemeanor can carry up to 364 days in jail.<\/p>\n<p>It can also bring a fine of up to $3,000.<\/p>\n<p>The sentence imposed here stayed for most of the jail term.<\/p>\n<p>The dismissed felony counts did not result in convictions.<\/p>\n<h2>Court Information<\/h2>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/mncourts.gov\/find-courts\/becker\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Becker County District Court<\/a> is located in Detroit Lakes.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/mncourts.gov\/access-case-records\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Minnesota Court Records Online<\/a> provides access to many public court records.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m Chris Harper reporting for <a href=\"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>TRF News<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Gary Lee Watson, 47, received jail time, restitution and probation in a Detroit Lakes Menards theft case after felony charges were dismissed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":35297,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_wpscp_schedule_draft_date":"","_wpscp_schedule_republish_date":"","_wpscppro_advance_schedule":false,"_wpscppro_advance_schedule_date":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":false,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"","_twitter_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type":"","_pinterest_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"","_medium_share_type":"","_threads_share_type":"","_google_business_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[12],"tags":[871,772,929,926,151,4666,2078,1051],"class_list":["post-35151","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime","tag-case","tag-crime","tag-detroit","tag-lakes","tag-man","tag-menards","tag-sentenced","tag-theft","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35151","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35151"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35151\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35300,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35151\/revisions\/35300"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35297"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35151"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35151"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35151"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}