A TikTok influencer from Florida who was arrested after posting a video of what authorities said was a load of stolen Target items was arrested again and charged with shoplifting from the same retailer in at least one other case, police said.
Marlena Velez, 22, was arrested on a charge of petit larceny, a misdemeanor, police in Cape Coral, about 130 miles (210 kilometers) south of Tampa, said in a statement Monday. A timecode on the video of her arrest, which police posted on Facebook, shows Velez was taken into custody on Saturday.
“Officers recognized Marlena Velez from a previous arrest and were able to positively identify her,” Cape Coral police said.
It was not clear whether Velez, who amassed 360,000 followers on TikTok with content based on her life raising two children, has legal advice in either case. The Office of the Public Defender for Florida’s 20th Judicial Circuit did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday evening.
Lee County Sheriff’s Office inmate records show Velez’s last booking occurred Saturday afternoon and she posted a $500 bond before her release on Sunday afternoon. The documents list the same court date as scheduled for her last arrest: December 10. The first arrest came after police tracked down Velez through tips and social media research, Cape Coral police said.
Target Loss Reduction employees called officers to report a theft had occurred on Oct. 30 and showed officers a video of a woman they accused of stealing, police said. Police said Velez paid a lesser amount for household goods and clothing, which together cost $500.32.
Police said they found Velez wearing the same clothes from the day of the theft in a post on TikTok. They also said she displayed some ill-gotten items on the platform.
Police said that while in jail after that arrest, Velez was recorded on security cameras saying, “Lesson learned.” Police said Velez told officers she did not remember committing theft at the store, but admitted she was the person in the surveillance video.
On Monday, police reported Velez’s second arrest, following claims by Target Loss Prevention officials that the same woman had done the same thing on Nov. 20.
In both cases, police allege, Velez chose items from the store, but when she arrived at a self-checkout terminal, she scanned bar codes with lower prices.
The latest alleged theft involved 16 items described as miscellaneous household goods and clothing valued at $225, police said.
Officers said that in the most recent case, they were also able to identify the suspect through security footage of her in the store using her phone – with her family’s wallpaper on the device being the same as a photo posted to her Instagram account, the said. Police.
In addition, they said, a man who was with her had a distinctive tattoo that matched images of a tattoo seen on Velez’s TikTok account.
Taken alone, the petit larceny charge in Florida could result in up to 60 days behind bars if prosecutors take action and are successful. But if Velez is charged and convicted consecutively on both counts, she could face up to one year in prison under Florida law.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
