Two Bunnell residents were arrested for allegedly shoplifting over $850 worth of merchandise at the Winn-Dixie store on SR-100, the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office announced on Friday. 41-year-old Willie London Jr. and 38-year-old Michelle Sofia were both taken to jail on their own separate criminal charges.
According to the FCSO, the theft took place in the Winn-Dixie located at 111 Flagler Plaza Drive at around 6:00 pm on Wednesday. At that time, the couple are said to have arrived in a black sedan. A white woman now identified as Sofia entered the store and reportedly spent a half hour loading her shopping cart with merchandise, before simply walking out the front door with it. She was reportedly seen in surveillance footage making a loop around the parking lot before returning to the sedan and loading it with her items.
After that, a black male later identified as London went in, also filling up a shopping cart and then leaving it abandoned near checkout, according to the FCSO’s report. He then is said to have told an employee that he was missing his EBT card, getting the employee to help him look for it before then leaving the store. The pair then are said to have returned into the Winn-Dixie together, at which point they spotted the second loaded shopping cart now moved behind the customer service desk. Sofia allegedly grabbed the cart and walked it out to their car, loading up with their second haul of unpaid-for goods.
Sofia is said to have driven off with London still inside the Winn-Dixie, before later returning to pick him up. The pair then reportedly drove away with their stolen goods. According to the FCSO, the first cart had contents worth $366.34, while the second one added up to $490.67. This brings the total value of stolen merchandise to $857.01.
Willie London Jr. and Michelle Sofia. ⓒ Flagler County Sheriff’s Office
The FCSO’s Real Time Crime Center obtained photos of the pair from the store’s video surveillance, leading an FCSO sergeant and a Bunnell Police lieutenant to spot the pair in a tent behind a residence on South Church Street in Bunnell. According to the BPD, London was living there as a fugitive from the law.
London reportedly resisted officers before being arrested on charges of retail theft over $750, obstruction without violence, and three counts of violation of probation (two felony, one misdemeanor). Sofia was charged with grand theft from $750 to $5,000 and misdemeanor violation of probation. London was given $3,500 bond, while Sofia’s was set at $2,500.
Both suspects have prior criminal bookings in Flagler County. London has been charged with multiple drug possession offenses, sale of cocaine, evidence tampering, child neglect without great bodily harm, and filing a false police report among others. Sofia in her own right has been charged with child neglect without great bodily harm and filing a false police report, at around the same time London was charged with the same things.
“I guess these thieves thought they were in another state or city, where you can just go in a store and steal what you want,” said Sheriff Rick Staly. “We don’t allow that in Flagler County. I commend the outstanding teamwork between the Bunnell Police Department and our deputies for identifying and then finding these thieves and putting them where they belong.”
Barbara Lafleche
July 22, 2024 at 6:38 pm
Another great job by FCSO! Led by a great Sheriff.
BK
July 24, 2024 at 9:58 am
Thank God we live in Florida, where accountability is still a thing. In California and other liberal states these two would not have been pursued and the store would eventually be forced to shut down due to huge losses. Still, that other local news site blasts Florida on a daily basis and bars most with a dissenting point of view.