Police say the suspects were linked to organized theft crews that traveled from outside Georgia and targeted the same Lululemon store twice in less than 24 hours.
PEACHTREE CITY, GA — Peachtree City police say they helped shut down two suspected organized retail theft crews after back-to-back incidents at the same Lululemon store, including one chase that topped 100 mph and another arrest in which officers blocked a getaway car before it could leave the parking lot.
What at first looked like two separate shoplifting calls has grown into a broader story about organized theft, cross-state travel and police coordination across metro Atlanta. Investigators say four women were arrested in the two March incidents, with one pair tied to thefts around metro Atlanta and the other pair linked to a Louisiana-based crew that had also hit stores in Mississippi, Alabama, Florida and Georgia. The immediate stakes were public safety, especially after the first case ended in a crash at a busy intersection and the second involved two children in the suspects’ vehicle.
The first case began about 11:07 a.m. on Friday, March 6, when officers were told two women believed to be part of an organized retail theft operation were inside the Lululemon at The Avenue Peachtree City. Police said corporate asset protection workers, not the local store, alerted officers that the women were actively stealing merchandise. Lt. Chris Hyatt, the department spokesperson, said the suspects left in a Hyundai Tucson and refused to stop when officers tried to pull them over. The chase moved from the Clover Reach area toward Ga. Highway 74 and Crosstown Drive and, police said, passed city headquarters before ending in a crash at the intersection. Officers identified the suspects as Evaria Billings, 26, and Shanteanna Johnson, 27, both of Atlanta. Hyatt said investigators recovered thousands of dollars in stolen merchandise, cash and tools used to defeat store security devices.
Police said the crash also involved another driver who was not part of the case and suffered minor, non-critical injuries. A witness, Lolley Campbell of Senoia, said the fleeing SUV squeezed through traffic at high speed just before the wreck. Campbell said the vehicle passed within inches of her car while she was stopped at the intersection with her 10-month-old granddaughter in the back seat. She described seeing the SUV cross lanes, hit another vehicle and roll before officers moved in with guns drawn. After the crash, police said both suspects were taken into custody and sent to a hospital for medical evaluation before booking. Johnson was booked into the Fayette County Jail later that day. Billings was still hospitalized as of noon the next day, according to local reporting at the time. Hyatt said detectives already had a prior felony shoplifting case involving the same store and believed the pair was responsible for a string of Lululemon thefts across metro Atlanta.
Less than 24 hours later, police said, a second crew arrived at the same store and walked into a planned police response. Hyatt said officers learned that a vehicle connected to thefts earlier that day at Atlanta-area stores was headed toward the Peachtree City location. This time, police let the suspects stay inside long enough to place units around the shopping center rather than risk another pursuit. Hyatt said the department had no intention of starting a chase because two juveniles were with the adults. When the suspects came out and returned to their vehicle, officers boxed it in. One adult ran but was caught near HobNob, a nearby restaurant. Police identified the women as Jaquinta Eurika Brady, 36, and Ebony Shanetelle Hammond, 32, both of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Hyatt said the suspects were traveling with a 16-year-old and a 7-year-old, and that the children were later released to another adult relative.
Jail records show Brady was charged with theft by shoplifting, obstruction of an officer, possession of tools for the commission of a crime and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Hammond was charged with theft by shoplifting, giving a false name to an officer, possession of tools for the commission of a crime and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Neither woman received bond on the shoplifting or possession-of-tools charges, according to local jail records cited by area news outlets. Police said Lululemon’s asset protection team watched the store remotely and gave officers updates as the suspects entered and moved through the location. Hyatt said the case reflected newer coordination between the retailer and metro Atlanta police agencies that had been working similar theft investigations. He also said officers believe some groups deliberately travel with children so police will be less likely to pursue a fleeing vehicle and so juveniles can be used to carry merchandise out of stores.
The cases have drawn attention because they fit a larger pattern that investigators say goes beyond a single theft report or one store. In the March 6 case, police said the suspects left with merchandise worth more than the threshold for a felony shoplifting charge in Georgia. Detectives also said the women were using a stolen rental car and carrying specialized tools to remove or bypass security devices. In the March 7 case, police said the Louisiana suspects were part of a multi-state group that had been operating across the Southeast. Officials have not released a total dollar value for all items recovered in the two incidents, and they have not said whether more suspects connected to either crew remain in metro Atlanta. Those unknowns matter because police have described the cases as organized retail crime, a category that often involves repeated targeting of the same brands, the use of lookout drivers and quick travel between counties and states.
For Peachtree City, the public impact was plain. The first case turned a shoplifting investigation into a dangerous chase on one of the city’s busiest roads. The second became a test of whether officers could stop a similar crew without sending another speeding vehicle through traffic. Hyatt said that in the Louisiana case, time inside the store helped officers get every unit into place before the suspects returned to the car. “We were notified of a vehicle that hit Atlanta stores earlier in the day, was in our area and more than likely headed to our store,” Hyatt said. In a separate account of the arrests, Hyatt said police were “absolutely not” going to get into a pursuit with juveniles in the vehicle. He said groups like these have historically used children either to carry merchandise or to discourage officers from chasing them once they flee.
The legal picture is still developing. Billings and Johnson were expected to face multiple felony charges after the March 6 crash, and police said Billings, identified as the driver, also faced more than 20 traffic charges. Brady and Hammond were already being held in the Fayette County Jail without bond on key charges as of the latest local reports. Detectives said both investigations remained active, and additional charges could follow as police compare evidence from Peachtree City with cases in other jurisdictions. Officials also have not ruled out more arrests tied to thefts at other Lululemon stores or other retailers. For now, the known timeline runs from the March 6 pursuit and crash at Highway 74 and Crosstown Drive to the March 7 parking-lot arrest at The Avenue, then to the fuller release of names, charges and multi-state links in the days that followed.
The scene has left different impressions on people who watched it unfold. Campbell, the witness at the March 6 crash, said seeing the SUV rush through traffic changed how she thinks about police pursuits in crowded areas. At the same time, police have framed the arrests as a rare break against crews that had been moving from store to store and, in Hyatt’s words, evading other metro Atlanta agencies for months. That tension between public safety and fast-moving enforcement now sits at the center of the story. In one case, officers chased and the pursuit ended in a wreck. In the next, they waited, surrounded the vehicle and made the arrests without a pursuit at all. The result in both cases was the same: four suspects in custody, stolen goods recovered, and investigators now trying to map how far the theft networks reached beyond one shopping center in Peachtree City.
As of Sunday, March 16, the two investigations were still open. The next milestone is whether Fayette County prosecutors and police file added charges or announce new arrests as detectives sort through evidence from metro Atlanta and other Southeastern states.
Author note: Last updated March 16, 2026.