HomeCrimeMan arrested after multiple alleged instances of shoplifting large amounts of alcoholic beverages

Man arrested after multiple alleged instances of shoplifting large amounts of alcoholic beverages

July 28, 2024

Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – John David Symonette, 61, was arrested yesterday and charged with two shoplifting incidents; formal charges in two more incidents of grand theft have also been filed, and Symonette is reportedly the suspect in additional theft cases.

At about 5:36 p.m. on June 28, Symonette allegedly went to the Publix at Hunters Crossing (5200 NW 43rd Street) and loaded a shopping cart with champagne, wine, beer, seltzers, and meat from the deli department valued at $1,036.96 before walking out without paying. A store employee reportedly identified Symonette in a photo line-up as the person who had stolen the items, and a sworn complaint was filed against Symonette. A formal charge of grand theft in that case was filed on July 24.

At about 8:48 a.m. on July 1, Symonette allegedly went to Winn Dixie (1459 NW 23rd Avenue) and loaded a shopping cart with high-end champagne valued at $942.44 and wine before leaving without paying. A Gainesville Police Department officer reviewed the surveillance video from the store, along with video from other incidents, and identified the suspect as Symonette. A sworn complaint was filed on July 18, and a formal charge of grand theft was filed on July 24.

At about 5:49 p.m. on July 25, Symonette allegedly went to the Publix at 1302 N. Main Street, picked up a fried chicken box valued at $9.99, and left without paying.

At about 2:28 p.m. on July 26, Symonette allegedly went to Total Wine & More (3965 Plaza Blvd), loaded a shopping cart with 20 items valued at $1,628.85, and walked out without paying. The responding GPD officer noted that surveillance video clearly shows Symonette pushing the cart out of the store.

At about 1:56 p.m. on July 27, a GPD officer located Symonette driving a rental car, conducted a traffic stop, and arrested Symonette for the Total Wine & More and Publix thefts.

Post Miranda, Symonette reportedly denied taking anything from Total Wine & More and claimed he had never heard of the store and didn’t know where it was.

An inventory search of his vehicle after he was arrested reportedly produced 1.4 grams of crack cocaine.

Symonette is currently booked on charges of grand theft, cocaine possession, and petit theft with two or more prior convictions. The arresting officer noted that he is the suspect in at least two other theft cases.

The arrest report notes that Symonette has 42 felony convictions and 35 misdemeanor convictions. He has served eight state prison sentences; his most recent sentence was for three years and nine months for 17 felonies out of Pinellas County, and he was released in 2019. His address is listed as Interlachen; in August 2023, he received a citation in Alachua County for improper passing and failing to change the address on his driver’s license, but the tickets were dismissed.

Judge Meshon Rawls set bail at $15,000.


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. 

  • “Symonette has 42 felony convictions and 35 misdemeanor convictions. He has served eight state prison sentences”

    Winner Winner…..give that man a chicken dinner. Publix did.

    • State referendum is needed to starve public attorneys and judges, to de-ACLUSPLCDNC our lovely Florida. But so many in Tally are lawyers, including DeSantis 🙃🥺

      • Maybe someday, you will decode your alphabet soup. Is it related to the Other alphabet soup?

        • I’ll break it apart to help:
          ACLU
          SPLC
          DNC

          All crime, misery and chaos loving parasite elites in govt. aka public attorneys and judges. Wake up, voters!

          • Excellent realJK these parasite politicians are a disgrace. $15,000 bond? LMAO. And Kamala the “Noble One” would say “They will not stop, they shouldn’t stop”. Phewey!!!!

    • And Judge Rawls gave him a pass when he set bail at 15,000 dollars! On a man with 42 felony convictions yet!

  • 42 Felony convictions, 8 prison sentences, 61 yrs old and still going strong committing felonies…..yet he only gets a $15k bond??
    Just Wow! And we wonder why crime stays out of control here in Libby-ville.

    • 15k might as well be 15 million to him. He’ll be stuck until he’s (possibly) convicted or gets a bond reduction.

  • He needs to stay locked up. He can smoke that paper dope ( k2) the rest of his life in prison.

  • 77 convictions and 8 prison sentences. Judge gives him $15000 bail. Something is very wrong with this picture. If he can afford a rental and Crack he can afford to pay for his shopping sprees. Just another example of someone at the age of 61 serves no purpose in society and hasn’t learned to act as a human being.

    • It would save everyone a lot of trouble if we had a way for him to call the authorities and say he’d like to go back to jail.

  • Well I believe in trying to reform a person but after the 41st conviction maybe a different approach should be tried. Breaking big rocks into little ones.
    8hr of sleep the rest of the time actually working in sugar cane fields in south Florida. Just a thought.

  • What was this guy doing with a bunch of higher end bottles? The total wine loot comes out to about $80 per bottle or so. Seems unlikely he was stealing that for his own use. Is there a black market for wine here???

  • Teaching moment: see how much 💰💵 🤑 in food you can get in one shopping cart with Bidenomics?

    • “On average, wages have risen faster than prices since the onset of the pandemic, and lower-paid workers have seen the steepest gains even while facing the highest cost burdens….”

      https://www.nbcnews.com/business/economy/inflation-higher-biden-rising-pay-makes-rcna158569

      Inflation since Covid has been global and the US has fared better than almost all other industrialized countries (Japan slightly better and China in a depression).

      “Estimated inflation rate of the main industrialized and emerging countries in 2023” see graph

      https://www.statista.com/statistics/256630/inflation-rate-in-selected-global-regions/

      Fatso left us in a hole – while promising covid would go away quickly – and almost all economists predicted a coming serious recession during Biden’s term. It didn’t happen.

      “Economists Predicted a Recession. So Far They’ve Been Wrong.
      A widely predicted recession never showed up.”

      https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/26/business/economy/economy-recession-soft-landing.html

      • Apparently you never heard of pay to play “experts”, in the media, academia and courts!
        Here:

        Bidenomics 101

        First, spend spend spend to pay back voters…

        That spikes inflation, increases crime, closes businesses…

        Inflation raises unemployment, homelessness and misery — creating more demand for Gov’t programs…

        And inflation makes workers get 2nd, 3rd jobs — falsely “lowering” unemployment while upping human stress, coping addictions (more programs)…

        Then, take credit when added regulations cause economic slowdown, deflation, Fed Bank rate cuts… but more lost retail jobs since consumers have less time to go out…

        Fourth, hand baton to Kamala, hit repeat 🔁

  • Amazing that people are allowed to walk out of a store with a full cart of stolen product. Someone filling a cart full of slow moving product should attract attention of an employee or clerk, giving them time to call for help or lock the door, with themself outside. If we need more prisons, then convicts are being babied too much. Someone who has racked up 77 crimes is obviously not being ‘corrected’ or deterred.

  • I want to commend the kindler gentler criminal justice system in Alachua County. Every time he grabs a cart full of bottles, before they issue charges they always give him a few days to drink it all before they go looking for him.

    • Gee, I hope this doesn’t mean you might move to someplace else where there are no criminals and homeless people.

      ” his most recent sentence was for three years and nine months for 17 felonies out of Pinellas County, and he was released in 2019. His address is listed as Interlachen; “

      • PS Crime is down significantly around the country and in Alachua County since Trump was in office. Not his fault of course, but he’ll lie and tell you it’s up with Biden and is his fault.

        “Trump’s claim that US crime statistics are only going up is false. Murder, other kinds of reported violent crime and reported property crime all dropped in 2023, according to preliminary statistics published by the FBI. Crime data expert Jeff Asher says that, if confirmed by final data, the roughly 13% decline in murder would be the single biggest one-year drop on record in US data dating back to 1960, while the roughly 6% decline in reported violent crime would be one of the biggest on record; reported violent crime declined in every quadrant of the country, in cities of all sizes and in in rural communities. In addition, as Asher has pointed out, partial urban data for early 2024 shows that the number of murders again declined sharply in the first two months of this year.

        “Trump’s implication that the crime rate is only going up is false,” said Anna Harvey, a political science professor and director of the Public Safety Lab at New York University. “During 2020, the last year of the Trump presidency, violent crime rose dramatically. The murder rate, for example, increased by almost 30%, the largest one-year increase on record. But violent crime has been falling during the Biden presidency.”

        https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/03/politics/fact-check-trump-falsely-claims-us-crime-stats-are-only-going-up-most-went-down-last-year-including-massive-drop-in-murder/index.html

        • The rise in crime was due to the summer of love. Remember the riots, burning of cities, violent attacks on police all in the name of dopers. Remember when Harris set up the bail fund for violent protesters to be released so they could go out and commit more crime. Then the China virus got leaked. So many people fell out of the coconut tree.

          • Bear:

            “Overall, most violent crimes are at or below levels seen in 2019, the year prior to the onset of the COVID pandemic and racial justice protests of 2020. There were 2% fewer homicides during the first half of 2024 than during the first half of 2019 and 15% fewer robberies. Aggravated assaults and domestic violence incidents also are below levels seen five years ago. Gun assaults were 1% higher during the first half of 2024 than during the first half of 2019, and carjacking, a crime that is relatively uncommon but began to spike shortly after the onset of the pandemic, was 68% higher.”

            https://counciloncj.org/crime-trends-in-u-s-cities-mid-year-2024-update/

  • A few years ago it would have been impossible to rack up a $1,000+ bill in a single shopping cart, but thanks to the economic genius of King Biden the Usurper I’d wager that cart was only half full.

    Maybe Biden can appoint Kacklin’ Kamala as the Grocery Czar and she can replicate the same amazing success she had as the Border Czar.

    That’s if he can spare a moment pre-signing Presidential pardons for all his pedo Democrat buddies and donors before he gets skulks out of the White House. I don’t think a few months is going to be enough time.

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