CAPE CORAL, Fla. — A TikTok influencer from Florida was arrested for allegedly scanning fake barcodes at Target to steal $500 worth of items.
Marlena Velez, 22, went to the store in Cape Coral and shoplifted 16 items that were listed for sale by scanning the barcode at the self-checkout register around 10:30 a.m. on Nov 20, according to her arrest affidavit.
Velez is known for her presence on TikTok where she has more than 388,000 followers and makes videos about her daily life and her family. She also posted a video of herself on the day she went to Target, which helped police to identify her.
Officials were tipped off with Velez's social media pages and some details about her appearances including her tattoo and that she has two children.
In the video, she was wearing the same outfit as the one in the surveillance footage of the suspect at Target. Police were also able to see the same jewelry, glasses and hairstyle in the TikTok and in the security footage.
Velez's Tiktok showed her shopping at the store and picking items listed for sale. Later, it shows her un-bagging the merchandise consisting of clothing, plates, bowls, a candle, mug and Stanley products. These were the same items listed as stolen by Target, according to court records from Lee County.
On Nov. 21, law enforcement arrested her at her home and charged her with a misdemeanor of larceny.
Velez told police that she didn't remember stealing from Target but confirmed that the female in the security video was her. While in the county jail, she said "lesson learned" multiple times and said she may have some of the stolen items from Target, according to the affidavit.
She was released from jail the same day on a $150 bond.
On Tuesday night, she posted a TikTok with a picture of her mug shot in the background. She started the video with "Get ready with me to talk about the elephant in the room," and then she didn't say anything for the rest of the video. But, she did write a long paragraph as the caption and said her team is managing the situation and "everything is OKAY."
"While there will be a time to discuss my wrongings, now is not that moment and it doesn’t mean I don’t want to speak on it or take accountability for my actions, it means everything is still being dealt with in court so I just ask to please respect that," she wrote.
