Father and teenage son arrested for organized retail theft
Staff report
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Joshua Cas Wilkes, 41, and his 13-year-old son were arrested yesterday for allegedly stealing merchandise from Bass Pro Shops on three dates.
At about 7:45 p.m. on June 11, Alachua County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to Bass Pro Shops (2650 Bass Pro Shops Blvd), where Wilkes and his son had just left the store and were allegedly fleeing from an Asset Protection Officer (APO).
An APO reportedly provided surveillance video showing Wilkes and his son entering the store together at about 6 p.m. on May 20; they appeared to case the flashlight aisle before selecting merchandise valued at $279.96, removing the items from their packaging, and concealing them in their clothing and cross-body bags. Both suspects allegedly left the store without paying for the items.
On June 9, the suspects were again captured on surveillance video, entering the store together. They selected merchandise valued at $539.94, removed the items from their packaging, and concealed them before allegedly leaving the store without paying.
On June 11, the suspects entered the store again and allegedly began selecting items and removing them from their packaging. The APO confronted them and told them to stop, but they allegedly fled on foot from the store without paying for the items, valued at $334.97. Bass Pro Shops staff reportedly maintained sight of the suspects and reported that they discarded the stolen items as they ran. Deputies arrived and detained Wilkes and his son.
Wilkes reportedly stated spontaneously that he had fentanyl, and a search incident to arrest reportedly produced 0.02 grams of fentanyl.
Wilkes and his son were both charged with organized retail theft over $750, tampering with evidence, and resisting a retail merchant. Wilkes has also been charged with possession of a controlled substance without a prescription and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
Wilkes has seven felony convictions (non-violent) and five misdemeanor convictions (two violent); he spent six months in the Alachua County jail following a domestic battery arrest in February 2025. Judge Susan Miller-Jones set bail at $215,000.
Additional informaton on Wilkes’ son was not provided.
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.
A father teaching his child how to steal. Charming.
What would society do if we didn’t have jails & prisons?
In the old days, they would cut off your hand if they caught you stealing…
Steal a man’s horse? You get hung…
Do you know what a pillory is?
It’s a wooden device that holds your head that you put your arms through…and then they display you out in a public place and people could throw stuff at you….
There was the whip…” give him 30 lashes”…
When I was in the 5th grade in public school, the principal gave me a whack with the paddle…I remember the paddle…that was a good deterrent..
Some people think a sociologist or a poetry reading will stop crime…
I like incarceration. Some people say it doesn’t work…well If it doesn’t, then I’ll always think that it should have…
I believe in the death penalty for murderers like Ted Bundy..
What do you think?
Throw Money at it with a sociologist and poetry readings, give them the drugs they are addicted to, incarceration, or all of the above that I mentioned like. The pillory, etc? Or just let them go
With no punishment?
I think the pillory for this duo in front of bass pro shop for a day should work…is that cruel & unusual? Let the jury decide.
The lowest of the low–a “father” who loves his drug addiction more than his own son.
Where was mom?
Oh Mom? She’s all meth’d up.
@You voted for it: The story states he went to jail in 2025 for a domestic battery arrest. Maybe she got smart and left? This guy also needs to be charged for child abuse for having fentanyl around a minor!
Wow! What a low life of a dad teaching your teenage son how to steal from a business. I am the son has been surrounded by the dads drug habit all of his life. Maybe if someone else were to take this teenager in and raise him in a drug free environment and teach him the correct way to conduct your life he just might have a great change of being a better human being than his father.
Florida girl:
“ Maybe if someone else were to take this teenager in and raise him in a drug free environment…”? Are you that person girl?
Sometimes there’s just a bad seed…
But, I “
have faith as in a mustard seed”..
Someone needs to step up and take him in because his dad is more than liking going to jail. And yes, I would be happy to take him in and provide a drug free life and help teach him how to be a responsible young man.
“ And yes, I would be happy to take him in and provide a drug free life and help teach him how to be a responsible young man.”
Ok Florida Girl, how are you going to make this a reality?
You’re going to adopt him without ever meeting him and be legally responsible for him?
Tell me how you are going to do this? I’m very interested…
What are you doing right now to make this a reality?
I’ve heard of people who foster children to collect that government check?
Do you have other children you have taken in like this, how many?
Not that you are worth the time to even reply but….
No indo not have foster children and never have collected a government check. I am grown Christian adult that has a full time job, have raised my children. This teenager deserves someone to help set an example to show him how to be a law abiding adult, not taking your child to Bass Pro and shoplift.
So, you are going to take him in to your home, that’s what you said…
You said, “And yes, I would be happy to take him in and provide a drug free life and help teach him how to be a responsible young man.”
And now you are angry at me and not worth the time to reply?
I think you’re a liar. You are not taking him in to your home. Prove it!
And how do you intend to discipline this stinky, dirty, 13 year old thief “Oliver twist”?
Will you be using the “it takes a village to raise a child” method?
Will you hit him if he doesn’t do his math homework?
Will you hit him if he’s not toilet trained?
Or are you going to read him poetry?
Two Men hit 2 little girls this week and went to jail with your “it takes a village to raise a child” method…
Will you allow the boy to see his father when he gets out of jail?
Will you take the father in your home to help him, will you take the mother?
Can you take one of those needy panhandlers in the median of 39th & Waldo?
Liars tell people what they want to hear… all talk and no action.
You not taking this child home.
You sure the principal didn’t whack you in the head…or possibly your head was up there then as it is now.
Un-Fathers Day of the Year Award Winner… How awful : (