Influencer Turned In By Follower For Allegedly Stealing From Target Has Been Arrested Again For Shoplifting
If you thought jumping on TikTok to make content before heading out to Target and allegedly swiping items at the self-checkout was a bad idea, you haven’t seen anything yet.
22-year-old TikTok influencer Marlena Velez, who was arrested last month on petty theft charges for an October visit to a Target in Cape Coral, Florida, was arrested again over the weekend.
Her alleged use of a fake barcode at the self-checkout doesn’t appear to have been a one-and-done strategy of hers. On Saturday, the Cape Coral Police were placing her in handcuffs again for an alleged repeat performance at the same Target on November 20.
The police department shared some of the surveillance footage taken from her November visit which allegedly shows her using a fake barcode that rings her items up for a cheaper price.
The video also shows Velez being arrested. During this visit, police say she made off with $225 worth of stolen items, which is down from the more than $500 she is alleged to have swiped the month prior.
This TikTok influencer's content once again helped identify her
Unlike the prior shoplifting arrest, where officers used a tip about her identity from an anonymous caller, this time around officers were able to recognize and positively identify Velez.
That prior arrest played a part in assisting them with that. In addition to recognizing her, officers reviewed the security footage and noticed the wallpaper on her phone.
It matched a picture on her Instagram account and is the same wallpaper identified in the first case. The man with her at the self-checkout has unique tattoos which are the same as those on a man seen in some of her TikTok videos.
All that police work led to a trip to the Lee County Jail for the TikTok influencer and another theft charge was added to her list. That's a tough few weeks for anyone, but it's done little to hurt her follower count. She's added almost 60k more followers between arrests.