Attempted theft at Pine City Walmart leads to drug, burglary charges for pair

Two Minnesota residents were arrested after an attempted theft from the Pine City Walmart on April 29, and each charged with first- and second-degree drug possession.

46-year-old Ramon Ruiz, of Red Wing, was also charged with third-degree burglary. 40-year-old Nicole Estrem, of Wanamingo, faces a count of fourth-degree burglary.

According to the criminal complaint, Pine County Sheriff's Office deputies responded to a report of two suspects who attempted to steal from the store and were combative with staff who confronted them.

The suspects, identified as Ruiz and Estrem, left the parking lot in their vehicle and were stopped by two deputies.

A Walmart employee said they saw Estrem concealing items in her bag, and a cart full of merchandise was pushed past all points of sale without paying.

The value of the items in the cart was later determined to be $370.88.

An asset protection employee waited for them near their vehicle, and Ruiz became argumentative when confronted about the unpaid merchandise.

Both parties had previously been trespassed from all Walmart stores until 2026 and had several entries in their records for theft and trespassing.

Ruiz had a previous incident involving the use of a weapon at a Walmart store, and is pending charges of second-degree assault and theft in Rice County after a March 24 incident involving allegations of brandishing a knife at an asset protection officer.

Estrem and Ruiz were placed under arrest, and authorities located 76 grams of bagged methamphetamine, other containers with meth and other pills, drug paraphernalia, counterfeit checks, and two computers and a printer in the vehicle.

Ruiz has nine prior felony convictions for check forgery between 2023 and 2025. Estrem has prior convictions for forgery and counterfeiting from 2018.