A suspected repeat shoplifter walked into a Florida Target and allegedly began filling a plastic storage bin with trading cards while a Flagler County deputy was already at the store investigating an unrelated bicycle theft.
Andrew Tyler Simmons, 27, and Madeline Noel Whaley, 35, both of Jacksonville, were arrested Sept. 21 outside the Palm Coast store. The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office said Target loss-prevention staff recognized Simmons from previous shoplifting incidents and contacted the deputy who was already on the property.
An arrest affidavit puts the recovered merchandise at $2,555.98, including a plastic storage bin and 98 packs of trading cards. Deputies also searched the vehicle and reported finding substances that tested presumptively positive for methamphetamine and fentanyl, drug paraphernalia and a loaded .22-caliber handgun.
Flagler court records now show separate open felony cases for Simmons and Whaley. Simmons also had one no-bond warrant from St. Johns County and three Clay County grand-theft warrants. Whaley’s first-appearance records set monetary bonds totaling $25,000 on six allegations.
Target Staff Recognized the Storage-Bin Method
The arrest affidavit says Target loss-prevention personnel associated Simmons with previous incidents in which a man entered a store, selected a plastic storage container, filled it with trading cards and left through a fire exit. A woman in a dark sedan had also been seen during earlier incidents.
On Sept. 21, loss prevention watched Simmons select a gray storage container from the home section and then go to the trading-card display. The affidavit says he placed multiple Topps football, Elite baseball, Prism basketball and football, and NBA Hoops products into the container before covering it with the lid.
Simmons allegedly passed the registers without attempting to pay and headed toward a black BMW where Whaley was sitting in the driver’s seat. Deputies moved in before the container could be loaded into the car.
The affidavit says Simmons later told a deputy that a friend had directed him to steal cards from the Palm Coast Target and had offered to pay him $10 for smaller boxes and $20 for larger ones.
Target calculated the recovered merchandise at $2,555.98, including one plastic storage bin and 98 packs of trading cards.
The Vehicle Search Added Drug and Gun Allegations
Deputies reported seeing crumpled tinfoil with burned residue near the center console as Whaley was removed from the BMW.
The affidavit describes a black container holding a crystal-like substance and a separate bag containing powder, along with a glass pipe with burned residue. Preliminary testing identified the crystal-like substance as presumptive methamphetamine with a package weight of five grams and the powder as presumptive fentanyl with an unmeasurable weight.
Deputies also found a Smith & Wesson .22-caliber semiautomatic handgun inside a backpack on the rear driver’s-side seat. The affidavit says the handgun was loaded with a round in the chamber and a magazine containing 10 rounds.
The Sheriff’s Office said the firearm was later confirmed stolen out of Jacksonville.
Simmons’ Flagler case includes grand theft, two controlled-substance possession counts and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Whaley’s Flagler court case currently lists seven charge entries: accessory after the fact, possession of a firearm or concealed weapon by a convicted felon, use or display of a firearm during a felony, grand theft of a firearm, two controlled-substance possession counts and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Simmons Has $100,509 in Monetary Bonds Plus a No-Bond Warrant
Flagler court records identify Simmons’ local prosecution as case 2026 CF 000856. The case remains open and lists an arraignment before Circuit Judge Dawn Nichols at 8:30 a.m. on Oct. 27.
The Flagler case lists four charges: grand theft involving property valued between $750 and $5,000, two counts of unlawful possession of a controlled substance without a prescription and one count of possession of drug paraphernalia.
At Simmons’ first appearance, the court set bond at $15,000 on the grand-theft allegation, $5,000 on each controlled-substance count and $500 on the paraphernalia count.
Three Clay County warrants each carried $25,003 bonds. Added to the $25,500 in Flagler monetary bonds, those amounts total $100,509.
The same first-appearance records show a separate St. Johns County warrant with no bond. That capias concerns a failure to appear in a separate case involving possession of a Schedule II substance and drug paraphernalia.
Three Clay County Warrants Describe Earlier Target Trading-Card Thefts
The three Clay County warrant affidavits describe separate grand-theft allegations at a Target in Fleming Island before the Palm Coast arrest.
In the first incident, investigators allege Simmons entered the store on July 14, placed 45 boxes of MLB trading cards into a shopping cart and left through a rear fire exit without paying. Target calculated the merchandise at $2,599.55.
A second affidavit describes an Aug. 1 incident in which a man allegedly filled a shopping cart and laundry basket with merchandise, mainly sports trading cards, before leaving through an emergency exit. Target reported a loss of $1,701.50.
The third affidavit concerns Aug. 8. Loss prevention reported that Simmons selected a laundry basket and began clearing sports trading cards from a shelf into it before leaving through a seasonal fire exit. The alleged loss in that incident was $2,519.63.
A Clay County judge signed warrants in all three cases on Aug. 27. Each warrant carried a $25,003 bond.
Whaley’s First-Appearance Bonds Totaled $25,000
Whaley’s Flagler court file, case 2026 CF 000857, remains open and also has an Oct. 27 arraignment before Judge Nichols.
The current case summary still lists seven charge entries, including the allegation of using or displaying a firearm during the commission of a felony.
At Whaley’s first appearance, however, Judge Melissa Distler found insufficient probable cause on that use-or-display-firearm allegation. Bond was set on the other six allegations: $2,500 for accessory after the fact, $10,000 for possession of a firearm or concealed weapon by a convicted felon, $5,000 for grand theft of a firearm, $3,500 on each of the two controlled-substance allegations and $500 for possession of drug paraphernalia.
Those six monetary bonds total $25,000.
The criminal allegations remain pending. Simmons and Whaley are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.