Ocala woman arrested for shoplifting movie projector and boat sonar device, fighting with police officer and store employees

Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Amanda May Shrewsberry, 39, of Ocala, was arrested on Saturday and has been charged with shoplifting a portable movie projector and a boat sonar device; she also allegedly fought with a police officer and Walmart employees in an attempt to avoid arrest.

According to a Gainesville Police Department officer, at about noon on December 5, Shrewsberry went to the Walmart at Butler Plaza (2900 SW 42nd Street), selected a boat sonar device valued at $349, placed it in her purse, and left the store without paying for it. The incident was reportedly captured on store surveillance video.

The next day, the officer was at the store, investigating the incident, when an employee called the Loss Prevention Officer (LPO) because he believed the same woman was in the store. The LPO and GPD officer watched the woman on surveillance video while an employee followed her through the store, and she selected a large black storage container and placed it in her shopping cart. Then she allegedly selected a portable movie projector, valued at $268, that had a “spider wrap” anti-theft device attached, and placed it in the storage container. Then she selected a large stuffed animal and put it on top of the storage container.

The officer reported that as the woman, later identified as Shrewsberry, walked through the store, she walked alongside the shopping cart, with her hand in the storage container. After some time, she removed something from the storage container and concealed it on a product shelf; the projector’s box and the anti-theft device were reportedly later found on that aisle.

Shrewsberry walked around the store for some time, appearing to make sure that nobody was following her, and then, when nobody was near, she reached into the storage container, removed the unboxed projector, placed it in her purse, and walked toward the exit in the garden department.

The officer and LPO waited outside for her, and when they told her to stop, she allegedly grabbed the officer’s handcuffs while holding tightly to her purse. The officer reported that Shrewsberry pulled away and swung her arms to resist being detained; the LPO and the other Walmart employee tried to help, and the LPO placed Shrewsberry in handcuffs, but her hands were cuffed in front of her instead of behind her, and she allegedly continued to try to pull away.

The officer reported that Shrewsberry had to be physically held down, and she allegedly “screamed the entire time” and kept twisting away to break free. A Walmart employee was pushed backward at one point and hit his head and back on an electrical box. The other Walmart employee had bruises and abrasions on his arms, and the officer’s wrists were injured, along with some lower-body bruises.

Shrewsberry has been charged with two counts of felony petit theft with two or more prior theft convictions, resisting merchant detainment, removing an anti-theft device, and resisting an officer without violence. She has 10 felony convictions (non-violent) and two misdemeanor convictions (non-violent), and she has served two state prison sentences, with her most recent release in March 2024. Judge David Kreider set bail at $50,000 on the charges from the theft of the projector, and Judge Susan Miller-Jones added $10,000 for the theft of the boat sonar device.

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.