{"id":36601,"date":"2026-07-07T10:21:19","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T15:21:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/?p=36601"},"modified":"2026-07-05T08:57:19","modified_gmt":"2026-07-05T13:57:19","slug":"bemidji-woman-faces-theft-false-name-charges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/bemidji-woman-faces-theft-false-name-charges\/","title":{"rendered":"Bemidji Woman Faces Theft, False Name Charges"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bemidji Woman Faces Theft, False Name Charges<\/h2>\n

Bemidji, Minnesota<\/strong> (trfnews.i234.me<\/a>) \u2014 A White Earth woman faces two charges following an April incident at a Bemidji Walmart.<\/p>\n

Hope Christine De Groat, 36, is charged in Beltrami County District Court. She faces one gross misdemeanor and one misdemeanor.<\/p>\n

The charges include helping another person allegedly give police a false name. De Groat also faces a misdemeanor theft charge.<\/p>\n

The case is listed as court file 04-CR-26-1081.<\/p>\n

Store Report Led to Traffic Stop<\/h2>\n

The case began around 6:33 p.m. on April 23, 2026. Walmart asset protection reported two suspected shoplifters.<\/p>\n

Staff said the women left in a Dodge Charger with a white hood. Police later stopped the vehicle on Partnership Drive.<\/p>\n

De Groat was driving, according to the complaint. Jessica Mathison was the only passenger.<\/p>\n

The complaint says Mathison first provided another woman\u2019s name and birth date. Police reviewed available photos during the stop.<\/p>\n

Officers determined the passenger did not match the person she claimed to be. Mathison later provided her actual name.<\/p>\n

Complaint Alleges Unscanned Merchandise<\/h2>\n

Police then reviewed the reported Walmart theft. Asset protection provided surveillance video and written reports.<\/p>\n

The complaint says De Groat and Mathison used a self-checkout together. Several items were allegedly not scanned.<\/p>\n

De Groat reportedly moved beyond the final sales area with unpaid merchandise. She then left the items behind.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors charged De Groat with aiding another person\u2019s false identification. The gross misdemeanor carries up to 364 days in jail.<\/p>\n

The charge also carries a possible $3,000 fine. The theft charge carries up to 90 days in jail.<\/p>\n

The theft count also carries a possible $1,000 fine.<\/p>\n

Readers can review the false-name law through the\u00a0Minnesota Revisor of Statutes<\/a>.
\nThe theft law is also available through the\u00a0Minnesota Revisor<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Public case information may be available through\u00a0Minnesota Court Records Online<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Charges Remain Allegations<\/h2>\n

A criminal complaint contains allegations and a statement of probable cause. It does not establish guilt.<\/p>\n

De Groat is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.<\/p>\n

I’m Chris Harper, reporting for TRF News<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 TRF News. All rights reserved.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Bemidji
Bemidji Woman Faces Theft, False Name Charges<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A White Earth woman faces theft and false-name charges after a Bemidji Walmart stop, according to a Beltrami County court complaint.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":36602,"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":[1224,959,772,960,2637,8103,1051,620],"class_list":["post-36601","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime","tag-bemidji","tag-charges","tag-crime","tag-faces","tag-false","tag-name","tag-theft","tag-woman","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36601","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=36601"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36601\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36603,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36601\/revisions\/36603"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36602"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36601"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36601"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36601"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}