Jacksonville Beach Police are asking the public to help identify a suspect accused of stealing $1,001 worth of merchandise from the Ulta Beauty at 3928 3rd Street South. The department shared photos of the person it wants to question in what it describes as a retail grand theft case, marking the third publicized theft investigation at this same store since late 2025.
According to a post from the City of Jacksonville Beach Police Department on Facebook, the pictured subject is sought for questioning after allegedly stealing the merchandise from the store. Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective E. D. Filbert, badge number 9975, at (904) 877-0730 or by email at [email protected]. The department's non-emergency line is (904) 270-1661, and its headquarters sits at 101 Penman Road South in Jacksonville Beach.
A Store With a Long History of Theft Reports
This is not the first time this particular Ulta Beauty location has drawn police attention. Detective Filbert also led the investigation into a December 18, 2025 shoplifting case at the same store, where $1,271 worth of merchandise was taken, as Hoodline previously reported. Before that, police sought two suspects who used a black purse to conceal more than $1,200 in merchandise during a November 29, 2025 theft at the same address, according to earlier Hoodline coverage of that case.
The pattern stretches back further still. In June 2022, a three-month joint investigation by the Jacksonville Beach Police Department and the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office led to four arrests connected to an organized retail theft ring operating at this same store, as reported by First Coast News. And in March 2021, Jacksonville Beach Police sought public help identifying a woman who stole roughly $1,000 in fragrances from the location before fleeing in a 2001 Lexus ES300, First Coast News reported at the time.
What Florida Law Says About the Charge
Because the value of the stolen merchandise in this case is $1,001, the suspect faces potential third-degree felony charges. Under Florida Statute § 812.014, stealing property valued at $750 or more constitutes third-degree grand theft, a felony punishable by up to five years in prison and fines as high as $5,000, according to the Jeff T. Gorman Law Offices. Theft valued under that threshold is typically charged only as misdemeanor petit theft in Florida.
Florida law has also expanded prosecutors' tools for pursuing repeat offenders. House Bill 549, enacted in April 2024, allows prosecutors to aggregate retail thefts committed within a 120-day window to meet the $750 grand theft threshold, an increase from the state's previous 30-day aggregation limit, per WQCS. The same legislation introduced stiffer penalties for coordinated retail theft schemes involving multiple people. Separately, Florida Statute § 812.015 allows retail theft to be charged as a second-degree felony carrying up to 15 years in prison when stolen property exceeds $3,000 in value over an aggregation period, or when the theft involves coordinating with others for monetary gain, according to the Sammis Law Firm.
Beauty Retailers Remain a National Target
The repeated targeting of this Jacksonville Beach store fits a broader pattern facing beauty retailers nationwide. Ulta Beauty executive leadership has publicly identified product theft and organized retail crime as major drivers of inventory shrink across the company's footprint, according to BeautyMatter. In February 2024, California law enforcement disrupted a multi-county organized retail crime ring that targeted 21 Ulta Beauty stores and funneled roughly $8 million in stolen merchandise through e-commerce resale platforms, per the California Department of Justice.
Nationally, the picture has been improving somewhat. Average in-store shoplifting incidents declined by 12.4% between 2024 and 2025 as retailers expanded investments in loss-prevention technology and security protocols, according to survey data published in July 2026 by the National Retail Federation. Regional agencies in Northeast Florida, including the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office, also participate in the Florida Organized Retail Crime Exchange, a statewide intelligence-sharing task force coordinated by the Florida Attorney General's Office that lets local departments cross-reference suspect surveillance photos with statewide databases.
Whether the suspect in this latest Jacksonville Beach case is acting alone or has ties to a broader fencing operation remains unknown. Jacksonville Beach Police have not said whether this incident is connected to the store's earlier theft cases, and anyone who recognizes the pictured subject is urged to contact Detective Filbert.
