A Minneapolis city communications officer lost his job last week after surveillance footage and smoke shop employees helped investigators link him to a series of credit card thefts from his own coworkers. The stolen money allegedly went toward kratom, an herbal supplement that some people use to manage opioid withdrawal symptoms, but which carries its own addiction risk. Adam Fetcher, 42, had earned $186,000 a year in the role and previously served as deputy national press secretary for the Obama administration.
The pattern of theft
Between mid-May and June, several Minneapolis city workers reported cash missing and spotted unauthorized charges on their debit and credit cards. Fetcher had recently returned from a weeks-long rehabilitation program that the city had approved before the incidents began.
City Operations Officer Margaret Anderson Kelliher later sent a memo to city staff acknowledging that employees had reported missing cash and cards. She wrote that the city had acted on the reports and saw no ongoing risk, but offered no details about the suspect.
The smoke shop trail
Minneapolis Tobacco & Vapor, a store less than a mile from Fetcher's home, became the thread investigators followed. Fetcher allegedly took a charge card from a coworker's purse and used it for a $481 purchase there. Surveillance cameras inside the shop recorded the transaction.
A woman who noticed the unauthorized charge on her card called the store. On Fetcher's next visit, staff photographed him and followed him outside to capture his vehicle's license plate number. Store manager Hamza Zamara said employees told Fetcher directly that they knew what he was doing. That plate number went to investigators.
Where the case stands
Fetcher was fired on July 1. The departure announcement from Kelliher praised the communications team as "fully staffed and well positioned" and said nothing about why he was leaving. He had been in the role for about a year.
The Hennepin County Attorney's Office received the case from authorities and is reviewing it. A spokesperson confirmed as much to Fox News Digital. Before joining the city, Fetcher held senior communications positions at Patagonia, Rivian, and Lyft following his time in the Obama White House.