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The 22-year-old influencer, identified as Marlena Velez, allegedly stole 16 items worth more than $500.
Florida-based TikTok influencer has been arrested after flaunting stolen goods. (Image: X/@Edwarda77427936)
A Florida-based TikTok influencer was arrested after she was seen flaunting her goods, she allegedly shoplifted, in a video. The influencer was charged with theft for allegedly shoplifting items worth over $500 from a Target store in Cape Coral.
The incident which took place on October 30 was recorded on security camera. The 22-year-old influencer, identified as Marlena Velez, allegedly stole 16 items worth more than $500, according to the Fort Myers News-Press.
Velez posted the video online for her 300,000 followers on TikTok. The Cape Coral Police Department stated that the store’s loss prevention team alerted authorities to a shoplifter using a fake barcode at a self-checkout to scan items at reduced prices.
After reviewing the security camera from the store, the police shared an image of the suspect on their social media accounts. Following this, an anonymous caller tipped the police about the identity of the suspect and directed them towards her Instagram account, which was linked to TikTok. It is being speculated that the caller was one of Velez’s followers.
On scanning her TikTok page, the police found a get-ready-with-me video from the day of the alleged shoplifting incident. In the video, Velez’s can be seen showing her wearing the same outfit and glasses she was wearing in the Target security footage.
Velez also recorded herself picking out the items inside the store and then taking them home with her.
“Everything was documented,” Mercedes Phillips, a spokeswoman for the department, said in a video posted to the department’s Facebook account, reported The New York Times. The video appears to have been taken down.
Velez was arrested and charged with one count of petty theft, according to the news release.