Florida man accused of manipulating Winn-Dixie self-checkouts, stealing nearly $10K in groceries over 8 months

Man accused of $10K self-checkout grocery thefts

The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office says they have caught the man responsible for manipulating self-checkouts at several Winn-Dixie locations across the county over eight months. FOX 13's Ariel Plasencia reports.

RIVERVIEW, Fla. - The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office says they have caught the man responsible for manipulating self-checkouts at several Winn-Dixie locations across the county over eight months.

What we know:

Julian Mitchell, 44, of Riverview is accused of stealing nearly $10,000 worth of groceries at four Winn-Dixie locations since March 2025.

Courtesy: Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.

Investigators say he avoided paying full-price for expensive items like steaks, chicken wings, laundry detergent, diapers and toilet paper.

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Detectives eventually caught on after Mitchell hit the same stores more than 100 times. They were able to match up the thefts since he used the same loyalty number during each purchase.

What we don't know:

HCSO didn’t describe in detail how Mitchell was allegedly manipulating self-checkout – after all, they don’t want anyone getting any ideas.

What they're saying:

"Some retailers are starting to scale it back a little bit because of the theft and fraud," University of Florida Criminologist and Research Scientist Dr. Read Hayes said of self-checkout. "There are a lot of ways to not ring up an item on self-checkout or ring it up and not complete the transaction."

In fact, Hayes and his UF research team found there are around 40 different ways to cheat self-checkout. They work with over 180 retail chains and are now leveraging artificial intelligence to help stores catch these tactics in real-time.

"They either have a barcode, a fake one, a sticker or one taped on, or they're holding the grits on the bottom and the Pampers on the top and things like that," Hayes said.

Theft like this has a trickle-down effect. Experts say it empties shelves for paying customers, frustrates store workers -- leading to employee turnover -- and can drive up prices for everybody else to compensate for what’s gone. 

"It's obviously the loss of what the retailer paid to purchase those products and to transport those products and handle those products," Hayes said. "All that cost is gone and all the expenses gone."

Sheriff Chad Chronister says that this is more than a run-of-the-mill retail theft.

"This arrest sends a clear message that organized retail theft will not be tolerated in Hillsborough County," said Sheriff Chad Chronister. "Crimes like this don’t just hurt businesses, they drive up prices for hardworking families at the checkout line. Our Retail Theft Unit works closely with our retail partners to identify repeat offenders, hold them accountable, and protect our community."

At the time of his arrest, Mitchell was already on active probation for a prior case involving drug charges. 

What's next:

Mitchell’s attorney told FOX 13 they have no comment at this time. According to online records, Mitchell is still in jail and has a court appearance scheduled for Monday.