A Florida-based TikTok influencer has been arrested for showing off merchandise he allegedly shoplifted from a local Target in a video posted to his more than 300,000 followers.
Marlena Velez, 22, is facing a petty theft charge for allegedly stealing more than $500 from a Target store in Cape Coral on Oct. 30, according to reports. fort myers news press.
The retail chain's loss prevention team told Cape Coral police that the shoplifter was captured on surveillance video at a self-checkout station, where he scanned a fake barcode listing a discount on the items in the cart.
Police said the suspects stole 16 items, including household goods and clothing, valued at $500.32.
Officers reviewed and reviewed security footage of Target and posted a photo of the suspect on the department's social media accounts in hopes the public could identify her.
Velez, who posted videos on TikTok about her life as a mother of two, was later identified as a shoplifter by an anonymous caller claiming to be one of her followers, police said.
The anonymous caller also provided officers with an Instagram handle that included a link to Velez's TikTok account.
Her TikTok page includes a “get ready” video from the day of the shoplifting incident, in which she is seen wearing the same clothes and glasses worn by the suspect in the targeted security camera footage. It was shown that he was wearing one. According to Fox 4 Now.
A since-deleted TikTok video also recorded her removing items from the Target and then placing them in her car.
“She essentially incriminated herself,” said Officer Riley Carter, public information officer for the Cape Coral Police Department. Express Tribune.
“Social media provided unexpected leads that expedited her identification and subsequent arrest.”
Velez was arrested Thursday and charged with one count of petty theft over $100 but less than $750.
The TikTokker's crimes also revealed her past criminal history.
In 2019, at just 17 years old, Velez was arrested on grand theft auto charges for stealing and crashing a friend's car.
Amanda Santana, a high school friend of Berreth's, said: NBC2 When they were friends attending Ida Baker High School, Velez allegedly asked Santana to sit in his car during class until lunchtime. Santana trusted her best friend and handed her the keys.
But when Santana returned to the parking lot, she said, her car and Velez were nowhere to be found.
“I went to the parking lot and looked around for my car, but I couldn't find it. So I actually looked around in all directions, as if to double check, and wondered where my car was. ''' Santana told the outlet on Friday.
“It turns out she went and crashed my car and drove it into the ditch at the Dunkin' on Cape Coral Parkway.”
Santana claims Velez never paid any damages.
“It's as if she feels no remorse,” she told the outlet.
Velez was also arrested in July 2023 for shoplifting at a Walmart in Cape Coral.
According to a report from the store, she underwrote the items by “scanning one item and placing another item below the scanned item,” according to NBC 2.
Velez, who stole $63 in kitchen utensils, pleaded no contest to the charges last April and was sentenced to take a theft prevention course and serve six months' probation, which ended last month.
“She has lived recklessly, flaunting a lifestyle that is not commensurate with her actions,” Santana said.
Following her recent arrest, Cape Coral police said that if Berreth is found guilty, her social media followers will not be immune from repercussions for her actions.
“Influencers should face the same consequences as everyone else,” Carter said. Express Tribune.
“Their public image does not exempt them from the law.”
