Coral Springs shoplifting chase ends at Sonic with damaged register

A Coral Springs man accused of walking out of a Publix with more than $358 in meat ended up in a foot chase that crossed West Sample Road and finished inside a nearby Sonic Drive-In. Police say Thomas Joseph Dinapoli, 55, tried to flee employees after the alleged theft at the Publix at 6270 West Sample Road around 10:25 a.m. on June 18.

The pursuit turned a routine shoplifting call into a public-safety scene in a busy retail corridor. Police say Dinapoli ran from the store, crossed the street and went into the Sonic Drive-In restaurant near the Publix, where he damaged a cash register and tried to hide in the kitchen area before officers took him into custody. The damaged register was estimated at about $250.

The case highlights how quickly retail theft can spill into neighboring businesses and create a larger response for employees, customers and police. Dinapoli was also charged with resisting arrest, criminal mischief and possession of drug paraphernalia, adding more serious allegations to a theft that began with meat from a grocery store shelf. For businesses along West Sample Road, the sequence is a reminder that even a relatively low-dollar shoplifting case can force staff to confront a suspect, secure a store and absorb property damage.

Coral Springs police, who say the department serves about 134,000 residents with 228 officers and more than 100 civilian members, handled the arrest as part of the steady stream of property offenses that appear in the city’s weekly crime reporting. The department’s size underscores the resources that can be pulled into a single retail-theft call when it spreads from one storefront to another in seconds.

The case also fits into Florida’s broader push against retail crime. In 2021, the state created FORCE, a statewide retail-theft database and task force designed to detect theft patterns, identify suspects and disrupt organized retail theft rings. In Coral Springs, though, this arrest began with one suspected meat theft and ended with a damaged register, a restaurant kitchen search and another entry in the city’s police blotter.