Ulta Retail‑Crime Arrests

Two women are accused of stealing nearly $3,000 in perfume from an Ulta Beauty in Pinecrest and then hitting more Ulta stores across South Florida, police said. (local10.com) Local 10, citing police and jail records, identified the suspects as Tasshay Mills, 31, of Miami, and Jessica Lidia Duarte, 33, of northwest Miami-Dade. Investigators said the Miami-Dade case began with a Nov. 3, 2025 theft at the Ulta at 11751 S. Dixie Highway in Pinecrest. (local10.com) Police said the pair put multiple bottles of assorted perfumes into tote bags and left without paying, then later targeted Ulta stores in Pembroke Pines, Davie, Fort Lauderdale and Deerfield Beach. Both women now face grand theft charges in Miami-Dade, and Mills was booked into the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center over the weekend, according to the report. (local10.com) The arrest lands in a state already devoting more resources to organized retail theft cases tied to beauty and fragrance products. In January, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced charges against two men accused of more than 40 Ulta thefts across Florida in 2025, with investigators alleging $47,000 in losses in the state and $166,000 nationwide. (myfloridalegal.com) Florida authorities widened that push in March, when they announced seven arrests in a separate ring and said investigators recovered more than $900,000 in stolen merchandise. CBS Miami reported that investigators said “boosters” in that case stole health and beauty products from retailers in 12 counties and resold them on Facebook Marketplace and OfferUp. (cbsnews.com) Beauty chains have become regular targets because the goods are small, branded and easy to resell online or at flea markets. CNBC reported that one California case centered on stolen cosmetics and fragrances from Ulta and Sephora that police said were resold on Amazon for years. (cnbc.com) Florida lawmakers toughened the rules in 2024. House Bill 549 increased penalties for organized retail theft, expanded how repeated thefts can be aggregated, and required restitution for people convicted of retail theft. (flsenate.gov) Mills is also still facing child abuse and neglect charges from a Sept. 5, 2024 case in Hialeah. Police said she became angry after her 1-year-old daughter spilled shampoo in the car, beat the child, pushed her onto the road near Northwest 37th Avenue and 54th Street, then drove off before returning and taking the girl again, prompting a missing-child alert. (local10.com) As of Monday, Local 10 reported that Mills was being held on a $2,500 bond and two outstanding warrants, one from outside Miami-Dade, while jail records listed Duarte as not being held in a county facility. The retail-theft case now moves forward alongside Mills’s earlier child-abuse prosecution. (local10.com)