Man Arrested in Eagan Convicted of Fraud

A St. Louis Park man was convicted of using a stolen credit card to purchase more than $1,000 of electronics from two east metro Target stores.

Kurtis Ray Cornelius, 25, pleaded guilty to two felony counts of aiding and abetting financial transaction card fraud and was sentenced Dec. 20 to 14 months behind bars.

On May 7, two men used a screwdriver to break into a car parked outside the Woodbury KinderCare Learning Center. A laptop, an iPhone, a purse, three credit cards and $100 cash were taken from the car by a man in a grey baseball hat, according to a witness. (Cornelius was initially accused of aiding in the theft from the Woodbury car, but the charges were later dropped.)

Later that day, two credit cards stolen from the car were used at the Woodbury and West St. Paul Target stores to buy $1,048.73 of electronics, including a Samsung Galaxy smartphone.

Law enforcement identified Cornelius—and Michael Lee Daly, 33—from Target surveillance footage.

Cornelius was arrested in Eagan on May 13 after attempting to flee from police. The smart phone purchased with the stolen card was found in his car—along with a grey baseball hat.