{"id":171437,"date":"2026-02-27T13:12:30","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T13:12:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/171437\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T13:12:30","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T13:12:30","slug":"riverview-man-arrested-in-10k-winn-dixie-theft-scheme-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/171437\/","title":{"rendered":"Riverview Man Arrested in $10K Winn-Dixie Theft Scheme"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>                                <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/julian-rashad-mitchell-1-.png\" alt=\"Riverview Man Arrested in $10K Winn-Dixie Theft Scheme\" class=\"pr-3 pb-3\" aria-label=\"Riverview Man Arrested in $10K Winn-Dixie Theft Scheme\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"\">The Hillsborough County Sheriff\u2019s Office has arrested a Riverview man following an eight-month theft spree targeting multiple Winn-Dixie stores.<\/p>\n<p>Julian Mitchell, 44, is accused of stealing nearly $10,000 worth of merchandise from Winn-Dixie locations across Hillsborough County between\u00a0March 10, 2025, and\u00a0November 25, 2025.<\/p>\n<p>Surveillance footage captured Mitchell stealing during more than 100 separate self-checkout transactions. Investigators determined Mitchell was manipulating the self-checkout process to avoid paying full price before leaving the store.<\/p>\n<p>Detectives identified this consistent theft pattern at four Winn-Dixie locations throughout Hillsborough County. Investigators also identified Mitchell by the repeated use of the same loyalty number at checkout for each transaction.<\/p>\n<p>Items Mitchell failed to pay full price for included multiple packs of steaks, chicken wings, laundry detergent, diapers, toilet paper, and other grocery items.<\/p>\n<p>On\u00a0February 4, 2026, the Retail Theft Unit obtained an arrest warrant and took Mitchell into custody.<br \/>&#13;<br \/>\nMitchell faces the following charges:&#13;\n<\/p>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n\tRetail Theft $3,000 or More (two counts)&#13;<br \/>\n\tRetail Theft or Coordinated Retail Theft ($750 or More)&#13;<br \/>\n\tPossession of a Controlled Substance&#13;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis arrest sends a clear message that organized retail theft will not be tolerated in Hillsborough County,\u201d\u00a0said Sheriff Chad Chronister.\u00a0\u201cCrimes like this don\u2019t just hurt businesses, they drive up prices for hardworking families at the checkout line. Our Retail Theft Unit works closely with our retail partners to identify repeat offenders, hold them accountable, and protect our community.\u201d<br \/>\nInvestigators also determined Mitchell was on active probation beginning\u00a0December 2, 2025, related to a prior Tampa Police Department case.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>As a result, Mitchell additionally faces the following charges:&#13;\n<\/p>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n\tViolation of Probation \u2014 Cocaine (Sale\/Manufacture\/Delivery)&#13;<br \/>\n\tViolation of Probation \u2014 Cocaine Possession&#13;<br \/>\n\tViolation of Probation \u2014 Marijuana (Sale\/Manufacture\/Delivery)&#13;<\/p>\n<p>This is an active investigation, and any updates will be provided by the Public Affairs Office.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Hillsborough County Sheriff\u2019s Office has arrested a Riverview man following an eight-month theft spree targeting multiple Winn-Dixie&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":171426,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[135,137,136],"class_list":["post-171437","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171437","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=171437"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171437\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/171426"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=171437"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=171437"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=171437"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}