North Dakota State football player accused of stealing watch worth $228K, removed from team
By WCCO News Staff
Click here for updates on this story
TWIN CITIES, Minnesota (WCCO) — A former North Dakota State University football player is accused of stealing a watch worth nearly a quarter million dollars at a Twin Cities restaurant earlier this summer.
The 20-year-old from Wayzata, Minnesota, is facing one count of theft, according to a criminal complaint filed in Hennepin County on Aug. 27.
Charges say law enforcement responded to a reported theft at Maynards Restaurant in Excelsior on July 4. The victim told officers that a bag he had stored in the sealed cabin area of his friend’s boat went missing while he was eating at the establishment.
The bag, worth approximately $2,400, contained the victim’s car key, passport, AirPods, flash drives for work, approximately $400 in cologne, $25,000 worth of limited edition clothing, between $5,000 and $10,000 in cash and a Rolex Cosmograph Daytona valued at nearly $228,000, according to the complaint.
The suspect was also on the boat that night. Charges say Maynards employees had stopped him when he attempted to bring the bag through the restaurant because they do not allow large bags inside. He told employees he just needed to bring the bag to his car and they escorted him through the restaurant. He then left the premises.
Another person on the boat contacted the suspect about the missing bag, to which he said that his parents were wealthy and they would “write a check for whatever was inside the bag,” charges say. The other person told him it was not about the money and the victim just wanted the bag and its contents returned.
While executing a search warrant at the suspect’s home, investigators found the missing bag and most of the clothing. The watch, however, was not recovered, according to charges.
Officers also searched the suspect’s phone and found a video from July 4 on the boat that the bag had been on. In the video, charges allege the area where several bags had been stowed can be seen.
North Dakota State University confirmed the suspect was a member of the football team in 2024 but was not on the active roster for its 2025 fall camp. Head coach Tim Polasek said he has since been dismissed from the team and “will not be considered to re-join the team in any fashion.”
The suspect’s first court appearance is scheduled for Thursday.
Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.