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A TikTok star has been arrested in Florida after shoplifting and showing off what she stole on social media.
Marlena Velez is a lifestyle vlogger known for posting videos of her day-to-day life, her family — and apparently her shoplifting hauls?! Retail giant Target caught surveillance footage of a woman stealing 16 items worth more than $500 total from one of their South Florida locations, according to the Fort Myers News-Press. The shoplifting suspect may have taken a long time to ID, under normal circumstances, but Marlena made it a bit easier…
The company’s loss prevention team reached out to Cape Coral Police Department on October 30 with the CCTV footage of the alleged thief using self-checkout to scan fake barcodes in order to lower the prices of what was in her cart. From there, CCPD posted screen grabs asking for help identifying the woman. It was all too easy for a TikTok user to solve the crime.
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See, Velez — in a now-deleted video — had posted the Target haul to her page with over 300k followers. One fan noticed the clothes the 22-year-old was wearing and the items she was showing off and became suspicious. They had seen the PD’s earlier post and started putting two and two together! The unnamed fan reportedly gave law enforcement Velez’s Instagram username, which they then used to track down her TikTok page.
Seriously, though, if she’s gonna steal from anywhere, why is she not changing clothes?? Keeping her “haul” offline where she could be so easily incriminated?? It’s like she was asking to get caught!
Marlena Velez in her mugshot. / (c) Lee County Sheriff’s OfficeWFTX reported police were able to find the video in question and identify her matching outfit and glasses to the security footage. From there, they had enough evidence to place her under arrest on November 21, and now she’s facing charges of petty theft. Officer Riley Carter told The Express Tribune:
“She essentially incriminated herself. Influencers should face the same consequences as anyone else, their public image doesn’t exempt them from the law.”
This isn’t Velez’s first issues with thievery, either. When she was 17, per The Tribune, she was arrested for grand theft auto when she allegedly stole a friend’s car and crashed it. Her former friend told the outlet:
“She’s been living recklessly, flaunting a lifestyle that doesn’t match her actions.”
The TikToker was also arrested in July 2023 for stealing from Walmart, once again through self-checkout… and was placed under six months of probation. Her probation only ended LAST MONTH and now she’s in trouble again… It’s also worth noting she didn’t waste any time deleting her IG page and shutting off all comments on her TikTok.
Such a wild situation. What do U think, Perezcious readers? Let us know in the comments (below).
[Image via Marlena Velez/TikTok/Lee County Sheriff’s Office]
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