A Friday afternoon trip to Nordstrom Rack near Aventura Mall ended with pepper spray, an allegedly stolen cart of merchandise and a longtime felon back in custody, according to Aventura police.
Officers say a 57-year-old Miami Beach woman with a criminal record stretching back decades tried to walk out of the Nordstrom Rack at 20669 Biscayne Blvd. with nearly $1,800 in concealed goods. When a loss-prevention employee stepped in, police say she blasted him with pepper spray before taking off. The encounter started just after 2:40 p.m., and investigators say the woman loaded up a shopping cart, walked out about 10 minutes later, then shoved the worker, sprayed him and fled. Officers tracked her down around 4:10 p.m. near the nearby Best Buy, according to WPLG Local 10.
Known criminal history and probation
State corrections records identify the suspect as Pappy Tina Miller, with listed aliases including "Peppy Miller" and "Renee Morales." The records show convictions in Miami-Dade dating back to 2001 for offenses such as grand theft and credit-card fraud, along with prior stints in state prison. The Florida Department of Corrections lists her DC number as L39859 and shows she was on probation for a May 2, 2025 grand-theft conviction, according to the Florida Department of Corrections.
Charges and custody status
Aventura police arrested Miller on charges that include armed robbery, armed grand theft, evidence tampering and felon in possession of a weapon. Officers say she denied stealing anything and denied using pepper spray, and she reportedly first identified herself as "Anna" during the encounter. She was being held without bond at Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center as of Monday afternoon, according to WPLG Local 10.
What shoppers should know
The Nordstrom Rack sits on a busy Aventura shopping corridor where loss-prevention workers routinely walk a fine line between stopping theft and staying safe. This latest arrest adds one more case to Miami-Dade County's growing tally of retail-theft incidents and highlights how quickly a routine stop in a crowded mall area can turn volatile.
