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Staff Report
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Authorities have apprehended Donald Eugene Wetherington, 64, on charges of multiple shoplifting incidents, including the theft of premium cuts of meat such as filet mignon, ribs, and a ribeye steak from a Sam’s Club store.
On October 3, 2025, a Loss Prevention Officer (LPO) at Walmart reported spotting Wetherington, who was already familiar to the store’s staff due to past thefts. The officer observed him navigating the aisles with a walker, discreetly placing $144.30 worth of merchandise in its seat. Wetherington then exited the store without making any attempt to pay.
Confronted by the LPO and another store employee outside the premises, Wetherington was escorted to the Loss Prevention office. There, he allegedly confessed to the theft. The Gainesville Police Department was contacted to take Wetherington into custody. However, after waiting for an hour with no response from the police, the LPO released him, citing Walmart’s policy limitations on how long an individual can be held.
The following day, the incident was inadvertently not reported to the police due to the LPO dealing with numerous other theft and fraud cases, which resulted in no investigation being conducted by the Gainesville Police Department at that time.
On May 22, 2026, a GPD Detective contacted Walmart LPOs by email about a different investigation in which Wetherington is suspected of taking a stolen generator to a pawn shop; the detective believed that the generator may have been stolen from Walmart. During that email exchange, the LPOs remembered the October incident and sent video from that incident to the detective.
The detective noted that it was “odd” to see Wetherington using a walker because he had been seen in video from the pawn shop, walking normally; surveillance video also reportedly showed Wetherington riding a bicycle up to the pawn shop and carrying the boxed generator into the pawn shop “with no problem.”
The detective learned that Wetherington has been flagged in GPD’s system since 2011 as someone who is known to fake medical conditions; a note in his file says that he “plays the system well.”
On May 27, a GPD officer saw Wetherington riding a bicycle in the Butler Plaza area and called to him from her patrol car. The officer reported that Wetherington kept riding and started pedaling faster; at one point, the wagon he was pulling behind his bicycle fell over, causing his bags to spill onto the ground. The officer got out of her patrol car and reported that Wetherington paused and looked like he was going to pick up the bags, but instead he got back onto the bicycle and rode away again.
By the time the officer got back to her patrol car and turned around, Wetherington had fallen, and a Butler Plaza security guard had caught up with him. The officer placed Wetherington in handcuffs, and he reportedly started screaming that he needed an ambulance for heart problems. The officer called EMS, and Wetherington was transported to an emergency room.
In the ambulance, an EMT asked Wetherington what the police thought he stole, and Wetherington reportedly said, “Meat.”
A search incident to arrest reportedly produced two packages of filet mignon worth over $150, $98 of ribs, and a $40 package of ribeye steak.
The officer reported that a manager at Sam’s Club provided video that showed Wetherington pushing a walker to the meat department and selecting the meat before walking out of the store without paying. The officer noted that as Wethington walked away from the store, he walked quickly and did not limp.
The detective noted that the generator theft is still being investigated and may lead to additional charges.
Wetherington has been charged with two counts of felony petit theft and fleeing from a police officer. He has 28 felony convictions (three violent) and 20 misdemeanor convictions (non-violent); he has served 12 state prison sentences out of Alachua, Bay, Gilchrist, Lake, Leon, and Marion counties, with his most recent release in 2024. Judge Meshon Rawls set bail at $25,000.
Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.