Florida Woman Arrested at Work After 18 Target Trips Allegedly Left $3,472 Unpaid

Image Credit: Police Encounters TV / YouTube. A Florida woman repeatedly asked deputies what would happen to her job and her children as they prepared to arrest her at work over an alleged series of Target self-checkout thefts.

Bodycam footage from the Collier County Sheriff’s Office shows deputies trying to keep the February 2025 arrest of Kimberly McDonnell discreet inside a professional office building in Naples.

McDonnell, then 36, was accused of making 18 trips to a Target and leaving with merchandise she had not paid for. Contemporaneous reporting placed the alleged loss at $3,472.02 across 151 items.

The footage has since been published by Police Encounters TV, which obtained the bodycam through a public-records request.

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McDonnell appears surprised when two deputies approach her inside the office and tell her she is being placed under arrest for grand theft connected to Target.

One deputy tells her they can move into a more private area and explains that he is trying not to embarrass her in front of her coworkers.

The deputy tells McDonnell that the case involves multiple visits in which she paid for some merchandise while allegedly leaving with other items she had not purchased. He also tells her investigators have video and photographs and that deputies have probable cause for the arrest.

McDonnell quickly turns to the practical consequences.

She asks what happens next, whether she will be taken to jail and when she might be able to get out.

The deputy explains that she will be fingerprinted and booked and may be able to post bond after processing.

McDonnell then tells the deputies she has children and says one of her sons is home sick.

Rather than immediately escorting her out, the deputies allow her to make calls so an adult can get home to the children.

When her first call goes unanswered, a deputy tells her to try her mother or someone else. He explains that their immediate concern is making sure someone will be there with the children.

McDonnell eventually reaches her husband.

“I need you to leave work and go home like right now,” she tells him in the bodycam footage.

“The sheriff’s office is here and they’re arresting me,” McDonnell says, later telling him that the arrest concerns “theft at Target for self checkout.”

After confirming that he will head home, the deputies continue preparing to take her to jail.

McDonnell asks whether she can leave her belongings and vehicle at the office and whether deputies can avoid handcuffing her until they reach the patrol vehicle.

They agree to walk her outside without cuffs as long as she does not attempt to run.

Once they reach the vehicle, the conversation turns to the seriousness of the charge.

A deputy tells McDonnell the amount puts the case above the misdemeanor level. Under Florida’s theft statute, property valued at $750 or more but less than $5,000 falls within third-degree grand theft.

McDonnell asks whether being arrested for a felony means she is already a felon.

He explains that she is being arrested based on probable cause and has not been convicted.

The arrest occurred on February 12, 2025.

Contemporaneous coverage of the Collier County Sheriff’s Office case reported that McDonnell was accused of making 18 trips to the Target at 2415 Tarpon Bay Boulevard between November 30, 2024, and February 2, 2025.

The alleged thefts involved 151 items worth a combined $3,472.02, according to contemporaneous coverage of the case.

Reported items ranged from a bottle of Dr. Pepper and mechanical pencils to a throw pillow and a mattress valued at $795.

Target loss-prevention employees had contacted the sheriff’s office after observing the suspected self-checkout activity. Deputies then reviewed store surveillance footage as part of the investigation.

The newly circulated bodycam does not show the alleged thefts themselves. It captures what happened after deputies arrived at McDonnell’s workplace to take her into custody.

Olivia Richman has been a journalist for 10 years, specializing in esports, games, cars, and all things tech. When she isn’t writing nerdy stuff, Olivia is taking her cars to the track, eating pho, and playing the Pokemon TCG.

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