Man charged with stealing over $20K in jewelry from Eau Claire Kohl’s sentenced

EAU CLAIRE COUNTY, Wis. (WEAU) - A man charged with theft after investigators say he hid in Kohl’s Department Store in Eau Claire overnight and then stole over $20,000 in jewelry is sentenced.

Court records show 27-year-old Thomas McRunnel of Rosemount, Minn. plead guilty to burglary-building or dwelling and retail theft of over $10,000.

According to court records, McRunnel is ordered to serve five years of probation, but can reduce it to three years if he pays restitution.

The Eau Claire Police Department responded to a security alarm that had gone off early in the morning on April 29, 2022, at the Kohl’s store, according to court documents filed with the charges. The security company for the store said they saw a man on security cameras inside the store. Officers arrived and heard an alarm from outside of the store. No one was inside, but officers said that four drawers in the jewelry section had been opened and emptied and an air wedge was holding one of the cases open. Kohl’s said that $22,915 worth of jewelry had been taken.

According to documents filed with the charges, security video shows that McRunnel entered Kohl’s in Eau Claire on April 28, 2022, at 8:43 p.m., before the store closed at 9:00 p.m. He then hid himself on the shelf in the luggage section of the store until the re-stocking staff left at about 1:15 a.m. April 29, 2022. Surveillance video shows McRunnel leaving his hiding spot amongst the luggage display and heading towards the jewelry section at 1:46 a.m. At 1:52 a.m., surveillance cameras showed McRunnel walking through the store with a bag full of items in his left hand, and at 1:53 a.m., when the lights come on, he is then seen running through the store and exiting.