A 21-year-old Pompano Beach woman was arrested twice this month in two unrelated Broward County cases, one involving an alleged shoplifting spree at a Deerfield Beach Target and the other a violent attack in Lauderhill that investigators say they cracked using her own mugshot. Za'cariah Anglin now faces a third-degree felony grand theft charge and a first-degree felony charge of burglary with battery.
The first arrest came on the night of Oct. 3, when Broward Sheriff's Office deputies took Anglin into custody outside the Target store on West Hillsboro Boulevard in Deerfield Beach, according to TAPinto Pompano Beach. Store workers suspected Anglin and two other women of shoplifting clothing, toys and beauty products, the outlet reported. Investigators say the women loaded two shopping carts with merchandise, bypassed the checkout lanes and walked out into the parking lot before deputies intervened.
Anglin was booked on a third-degree felony grand theft charge tied to merchandise valued between $750 and $5,000, per the same account. She was released on bond following that arrest. Under Florida law, theft of an amount below $750 is generally treated as first-degree petit theft, a first-degree misdemeanor, according to Florida Senate statute records — though the statute excerpt available does not fully detail how that threshold applies to this specific case.
A Violent Confrontation Days Earlier in Lauderhill
The Target arrest would end up connecting Anglin to a second, far more serious case. On Oct. 2, a violent incident unfolded in Lauderhill that investigators later linked to Anglin through court documents, the report states. According to the arrest report described by the outlet, Anglin allegedly dragged a woman from a Toyota Corolla onto the concrete by her hair and punched her repeatedly in the head.
A passerby stepped in to stop the attack, the report notes. The victim recorded part of the incident on her phone and called investigators afterward. Anglin and the victim reportedly knew each other and had dated the same man, according to the arrest report cited by the outlet.
A Booking Photo Breaks the Case
The two cases converged when a Lauderhill Police Department detective ran a database query on unsolved violent crimes on Oct. 5 and recognized Anglin as the suspected attacker from her fresh shoplifting-booking photograph, the article reports. The victim subsequently identified Anglin in a mugshot lineup administered by an independent administrator.
That identification led to a signed warrant, and on Oct. 13 Anglin was arrested at an apartment complex on Southwest 15th Street in Pompano, according to the reporting. She was taken into custody without incident by a Broward Sheriff's Office deputy and booked into Broward County Main Jail. She is being held without bond on the burglary and battery charges, the outlet reported.
Felony Charges in Both Cases
Anglin now faces a first-degree felony charge of burglary with battery stemming from the Lauderhill incident, in addition to the third-degree felony grand theft charge from the Deerfield Beach case. Florida law classifies reaching into a vehicle without permission to commit battery as burglary with battery, according to the reporting.
The underlying arrest reports, warrant and charging documents were not made available for independent review, and the current status of both cases — including any future court proceedings — remains to be seen.
