Altamonte Springs man arrested for stealing over $8k in items from Ulta Beauty after GPS device in one of the boxes led police to the thieves

Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Darren Michael Brown, 33, has been charged with grand theft after allegedly working with two other people to steal over $8,000 in items from Ulta Beauty in the Oaks Mall; he was identified after police tracked a GPS device the store had placed in one of the stolen packages.

At about 6:42 p.m. on September 9, Brown and two others allegedly walked into the store wearing medical masks, picked up complimentary mesh shopping bags, quickly filled them with 103 items valued at $8,572.20, and left the store without paying.

The arrest report notes that Ulta Beauty is commonly targeted by thieves due to its close proximity to I-75 and its high-dollar fragrances and hair products. Because of this, Ulta Beauty has started placing GPS tracking devices in some of their product boxes, and one of these boxes was reportedly picked up by the group on September 9.

An employee followed the suspects out to the parking lot and took videos of them and their vehicle, a gray Nissan sedan.

Gainesville Police Department (GPD) dispatchers and Ulta Beauty investigators began tracking the device, which traveled down I-75 to the turnpike and then to an address in Orlando. A short time later, an unoccupied gray Nissan Altima was located at that address.

The GPS device started moving again, indicating that it had been transferred to a different vehicle, and an Orange County Sheriff’s Deputy conducted a traffic stop on that vehicle, which was reportedly driven by Ajhai Alliyah Prince, 24, who reportedly fled from the vehicle and was caught; she was reportedly wearing the same clothing seen on the video of the suspects.

The tracker and most of the stolen items were reportedly found in the vehicle, along with driver’s licenses for Brown and Prince; Brown reportedly matches the description of one of the suspects. The deputy who conducted the traffic stop later learned from in-car video that Brown had fled out of the back seat of the vehicle while he was chasing Prince. The third suspect had not been identified at the time Brown’s sworn complaint was filed. A sworn complaint has also been filed against Prince in Alachua County for grand theft.

Ulta Beauty told GPD that Brown and the other suspects were also involved in a $1,330 theft from a Jacksonville store and a $5,456 theft from a Palm Coast store.

The officer reported that Brown wore the same camouflage Adidas cap in each incident and has distinct tattoos on his arms, neck, and chest that are visible in surveillance video. Brown has two prior convictions for thefts.

Brown was transferred to the Alachua County Jail yesterday and is being held on $100,000 bail, the amount set by Judge David Kreider in his arrest warrant.

Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

The post Altamonte Springs man arrested for stealing over $8k in items from Ulta Beauty after GPS device in one of the boxes led police to the thieves appeared first on Alachua Chronicle .