Shoplifting Crew's Escape Ends in a Retention Pond

A retail-theft call in Palm Coast, Florida, escalated in seconds from deputies approaching suspected shoplifters to a dangerous flight from a shopping center. The escape did not last long. After the fleeing Toyota swerved near Interstate 95, it left the roadway and plunged into a retention pond, leaving three occupants to be pulled from the partially submerged car and taken into custody.

The incident happened on March 12, 2024. Flagler County Sheriff's Office records identify the three people arrested as Jacksonville residents Gerald Jenkins, 28, Amanda Wright, 36, and Tiara Gailyard, 29. The official account says deputies were responding to reports of three masked suspects stealing from Bath & Body Works and TJ Maxx in the Palm Coast Landing area. The footage supplied for this article carries a March 12, 2024 AXON timestamp and Flagler County Sheriff's Office branding, matching the agency's release and contemporary local reporting.

A Shoplifting Call Becomes Something Much More Serious

According to FCSO, Master Deputy Jackson saw two women matching the reported description leaving the stores with large shopping bags. When emergency lights came on, the women ran toward a white Toyota sedan. The Sheriff's Office identified them as Wright and Gailyard, while Jenkins was behind the wheel.

The crucial change in the encounter came at the driver's side of the Toyota. FCSO says Jackson gave Jenkins clear commands to stop. Instead, Jenkins continued backing the vehicle, nearly striking the deputy and narrowly missing another vehicle. At that point, the episode was no longer simply about merchandise allegedly taken from stores. A moving vehicle in close proximity to an officer creates an immediate safety problem, and the decision to drive away transformed the response.

Deputies also reported that the Toyota's license plate had been covered with a surgical-style mask. That detail, combined with the masks worn during the alleged theft and the anti-shoplifting equipment later recovered, became important to investigators assessing whether this was an isolated theft or part of a more organized pattern.

The Toyota Flees Onto State Road 100

The Toyota left the shopping area and headed onto State Road 100. Contemporary reporting describes the car weaving through traffic while deputies coordinated ahead of it. FCSO deployed StopSticks near the Amoco station at State Road 100 and Interstate 95, a location that would soon become the endpoint of the attempted escape.

Tire-deflation devices are intended to reduce a fleeing vehicle's ability to continue safely at speed without requiring officers to immediately make physical contact with the car. But their effectiveness still depends on where the vehicle travels. According to the Sheriff's Office, the Toyota swerved while trying to avoid the StopSticks. That maneuver sent the car away from the roadway and into a water-retention area beside the gas station.

The pond abruptly changed the priorities again. What had been a pursuit now included a partially submerged vehicle. Deputies had to secure the occupants while also dealing with the hazards created by water, unstable footing and a vehicle that had just crashed.

The Escape Ends in the Water

The body-camera footage captures the aftermath from the deputies' perspective. The scene is chaotic but purposeful: officers converge near the water, give commands and work to bring the occupants under control. All three suspects were apprehended after being removed from the partially submerged Toyota.

This is also where body-camera footage adds context that a written arrest summary cannot fully convey. A report can state that a car entered a retention pond and three people were arrested. Video shows the physical environment officers were navigating, the speed at which circumstances changed and the practical difficulty of moving from pursuit to rescue and custody within moments.

Importantly, the footage should not be used to infer facts that are not established by the official record. The identities, alleged thefts, warrants and charges discussed here come from FCSO and corroborating local reporting, rather than assumptions based solely on appearance or behavior in the video.

What Deputies Say They Found Inside the Car

After the occupants were secured, investigators searched the Toyota. FCSO reported finding merchandise stolen from the two Palm Coast businesses as well as bags and merchandise associated with dozens of other retailers. Deputies also located a metal magnetic device described as a tool used to remove retail anti-theft devices.

The merchandise attributed to the Palm Coast thefts was valued at just over $1,836. The Sheriff's Office specifically noted that the property included 50 candles from Bath & Body Works. Local reporting also described children's clothing among merchandise allegedly taken from TJ Maxx.

Those discoveries were central to why the agency characterized the three as part of a statewide shoplifting operation rather than treating the case as a single spontaneous incident. The backgrounds reported by FCSO added further context. Jenkins had active warrants from Hillsborough, Duval and Marion counties. Gailyard had an active St. Johns County warrant, while Wright was reported to be on probation following a Jacksonville retail-theft conviction.

Three Arrests and Multiple Cases Collide

FCSO said all three were taken to the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility. The agency's initial release listed Jenkins as arrested for assault on a law-enforcement officer, knowingly driving while his license was suspended, and possession or use of an anti-shoplifting countermeasure device, while his outstanding warrants remained active. Other contemporary reporting based on case records described additional fleeing-and-eluding counts.

Wright was arrested on allegations including grand-theft shoplifting, resisting an officer without violence and possession or use of an anti-shoplifting countermeasure device, along with a probation violation. Gailyard faced allegations including grand-theft shoplifting, resisting without violence and possession or use of an anti-shoplifting countermeasure device, in addition to her outstanding warrant.

Charges are allegations, and an arrest does not itself establish guilt. That distinction matters when writing about body-camera footage. Video can make an incident feel immediate and definitive, but the criminal process continues through charging decisions, court proceedings and potential adjudication long after the recorded encounter ends.

Why This Incident Escalated So Quickly

The case illustrates how an ordinary retail-theft response can become substantially more dangerous when a suspect vehicle is used to flee. Deputies initially arrived to investigate reported thefts. Within moments, an officer was forced to move away from a reversing car, the vehicle was traveling on a public highway, stop sticks were being deployed, and the occupants ultimately needed to be removed from a car in a pond.

It also shows why investigators look beyond the merchandise recovered from one store. Organized retail crime can involve repeated thefts across jurisdictions, methods intended to defeat store security, obscured vehicle identification and the movement or resale of stolen goods. In this case, the Sheriff's Office cited the bags and merchandise connected with numerous retailers, the magnetic anti-theft device, the covered license plate and the suspects' outstanding cases in other Florida counties when describing the broader pattern.

A Short Escape With a Much Longer Legal Aftermath

The attempted getaway covered only a limited distance, but its consequences extended far beyond the original call at the shopping center. What began with allegations involving less than $2,000 in Palm Coast merchandise ended with a wrecked vehicle in a retention pond, three arrests, outstanding warrants coming into play and multiple alleged offenses being investigated.

The most striking part of the footage is how rapidly the situation changes. Store exits become a parking-lot confrontation. The parking lot becomes a roadway pursuit. The roadway becomes a crash scene. And within minutes, deputies who had arrived to investigate shoplifting are standing at the edge of a pond taking three people into custody.

See the full encounter: The bodycam footage shows the escalation from the initial response through the pond-side arrests in a way that still images cannot capture.