A social media influencer was arrested on Nov. 20 after Target accused her of shoplifting hundreds of dollars worth of goods.
Officers were called to the store for a past retail theft that occurred on Oct. 30 at a Target in Cape Coral, Florida, according to a news release from the Cape Coral Police Department.
Target’s loss prevention team told the police that the suspect Marlena Velez, 22, allegedly selected sale items and then proceeded to the self-checkout register to scan false barcodes with cheaper prices than what she was purchasing, Cape Coral police said.
Officers said the suspect stole 16 items of miscellaneous household goods and clothing valued at $500.32, which they verified through Target’s security cameras.
The police department posted a picture of the suspect on its Facebook and Instagram accounts, describing her as a female around 20-35 years old with long black hair, wearing a tan shirt, tan pants, and glasses, and asked the public for help identifying her.
Velez, a mom of two children who posts content about her life, home activities, and clothing hauls on TikTok and amassed more than 380,000 followers on the social media platform. She was identified by an anonymous caller, who saw the post on social media and contacted authorities via Instagram.
The anonymous caller then provided officers with her name, birthday, and Instagram handle which led to officers finding Velez’s TikTok account.
Police said they found videos documenting Velez getting ready on Oct. 30 wearing the same outfit and glasses as the suspect in Target’s security footage.
The since-deleted video showed Velez documenting “herself picking out items inside the store and placing them in her car after exiting the store,” authorities said.
“Everything was documented,” Mercedes Phillips, a spokesperson for the department, said in a video posted to its Facebook account.
Officers arrested Velez and took her to the Lee County Jail, charging her with one count of petit theft of more than $100, less than $750.
Shoplifting has been a nationwide issue for the retailer. In Sept. 2023, Target announced that it was closing nine stores across New York City, Seattle, San Francisco, Oakland Market, and Portland due to shoplifting at its stores.
The company said the difficult decision to close its stores came after it invested heavily in plans to prevent and stop theft including additional security in stories, using third-party guard services, and implementing theft-deterrent tools, but ultimately the efforts were unsuccessful.
“We cannot continue operating these stores because theft and organized retail crime are threatening the safety of our team and guests, and contributing to unsustainable business performance,” Target wrote in a news release. “We know that our stores serve an important role in their communities, but we can only be successful if the working and shopping environment is safe for all.”