On October 1, 2025, police in Atlanta received a call about a brazen shoplifting incident at a Nike store. The dude grabs a large trash bag, stuffs it full of merchandise, and flees. Well, fortune would have it that a witness was able to catch the license plate number of the getaway car and called the police. Fast forwarding, they locate the car pretty quickly and catch two suspects literally just down the street at a convenience store. The Atlanta Police Department released some bodycam footage showing the entire takedown it really shows how community help can make a big difference in stopping this kind of stuff.
A tweet from X.
It happened at 3:37 p.m. at the Nike location on 675 Ponce De Leon Avenue NE. The primary individual they identified was 22-year-old Javonte Avery, who is accused of taking in excess of $5,000 worth of merchandise. His accomplice, 23-year-old Michael Davis, waited outside as the wheelman. Cops got all the stolen stuff back from their car no losses there. According to the APD,
“The shoplifter was identified as 22-year-old Javonte Avery and his getaway driver was identified as 23-year-old Michael Davis. Both men were charged with felony shoplifting and taken to the Fulton County Jail.”
Under Georgia’s laws like O.C.G.A. §16-8-14 anything over $500 stolen is a felony, and for bigger hauls like this, you could be looking at up to 10 years behind bars. Avery was already walking around with 18 open shoplifting warrants from APD and one more from the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office. Davis had six from Chattooga County. It’s a classic case of repeat offenders slipping through the cracks. From what I’ve seen in local reports, about 70% of these felony shoplifters in Fulton County get released before trial, based on stuff from the Atlanta Police Foundation’s Repeat Offender Commission.
Folks on social media are pissed about it, venting about repeat crooks and lax bail rules. In replies to the APD’s announcement, people were calling out Avery’s pile of warrants, wondering how he wasn’t locked up already to stop more crimes. This isn’t just an Atlanta thing it’s echoing worries across the country where shoplifting’s on the rise. The National Retail Federation’s 2025 report on retail theft and violence says external thefts jumped 19% in 2024 from the year before, adding up to over $112 billion in losses. Meanwhile, the Council on Criminal Justice said shoplifting is still up 64% and 61% in big cities like New York and L.A. respectively when comparing mid-2019 to mid-2023.
Units like Auto Crimes Enforcement, Aviation, and Larceny are racking up more than 200 shoplifting busts here in Atlanta alone this year, proving they’re putting in the work. But cases like this one show how ongoing theft is draining resources and making people doubt store security. That witness stepping up was key, and it’s the kind of community pitch-in we need more of not just in U.S. cities, but places like London and Sydney too, where they’re dealing with similar spikes and pushing for smarter fixes.
At the end of the day, this bust is a win for good policing, but it shines a light on the holes in dealing with habitual thieves a problem popping up in crime stats nationwide. Like the Council on Criminal Justice says, if we don’t tackle the underlying issues, like tough economic times, this crap’s just gonna keep hitting retailers and neighborhoods hard.
