Brown County District Court

• A felony theft charge was filed and warrant requested Sept. 1 against Matthew C. Kurtenbach, 42, Faribault.

According to court documents, New Ulm Police were made aware of a shoplifting incident at Walmart Aug. 10, 2022. The suspect vehicle was described as a brown SUV with dark rims. The plates were registered to an orange 2014 Ford F150. Law enforcement checked the area and did not locate the vehicle.

Walmart Assistant Manger Hanevik was watching the customer due to a cart of electronic items he found suspicious. Hanevik said the man ditched the cart of items somewhere in the store and only took a vacuum out of an emergency exit. Video showed the suspect exiting the store holding a big box for a Shark vacuum and a smaller, green box.

The vacuum was believed to be a Shark Robot vacuum valued at $517.72 with tax. A witness in the parking lot saw a white male in a white t-shirt leaving the emergency exit which prompted her to record with her phone as the man briskly walked from the store. The suspect, later identified as Kurtenbach, walked to a dark red Ford Explorer and drove away.

Kurtenbach was arrested in Nobles County and a Shark vacuum was recovered in the truck he was driving. Nobles County law enforcement confirmed he was the man in screenshots provided from Walmart video that showed him carrying the vacuum.

Jackson County deputies recovered the same plate in a ditch that had been on the suspect’s vehicle while it was in New Ulm. The vacuum recovered from Worthington police was the same item on a Walmart receipt provided by the store manager.

Kurtenbach’s criminal history showed a prior gross misdemeanor conviction within five years in Wright County Court. He is currently in custody.