A Florida TikTok influencer was arrested again for allegedly shoplifting from the same retailer in at least one other instance, police said.
Marlena Velez, 22, was arrested based on an allegation of petty theft, a misdemeanor, police in Cape Coral, Florida, about 130 miles south of Tampa, said in a statement Monday. A timecode on video of her arrest posted by police shows Velez was taken into custody Saturday.
“Officers recognized Marlena Velez from a prior arrest and were able to positively identify her,” the Cape Coral Police Department said.
It wasn’t clear if Velez, who amassed 360,000 followers on TikTok with content based on her life raising two children, has retained legal counsel for either case. The public defender’s office for Florida’s 20th Judicial Circuit did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday night.
Inmate records from the Lee County Sheriff’s office state Velez’s latest booking happened Saturday afternoon, and she posted $500 bond for her release on Sunday afternoon. The records list the same court date scheduled for her last arrest: Dec. 10.
That initial arrest happened after police tracked down Velez through tips and social media sleuthing, Cape Coral police said.
Target loss reduction employees called officers to report a theft had happened on Oct. 30 and showed arriving officers video of a woman they accused of stealing, police said. Police said Velez paid a lower amount for household goods and clothing collectively priced at $500.32.
Police said they found Velez wearing the same clothing in a post on TikTok from the day of the theft. They also said she showed off some of the ill-gotten items on the platform.
While in jail following that arrest, police said Velez was recorded on security cameras saying, “Lesson learned.” Police said Velez told officers she did not recall committing theft at the store but admitted the person on security video was her.
On Monday, the department reported Velez’s second arrest, the result of Target loss prevention workers reporting the same woman allegedly did the same thing on Nov. 20.
In both cases, police allege, Velez chose items from the store, but when she got to 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 worth $225, police said.
In the most recent case, officers said they were also able to identify the suspect though security images of her in the store with her phone — with her family wallpaper on the device the same as a photo posted on her Instagram account, Cape Coral police said.
Furthermore, they said, a man with a distinctive tattoo was with her and matches imagery of a tattoo seen on Velez’s TikTok account.
Taken alone, the charge of petty theft in Florida could result in a maximum of 60 days behind bars if prosecutors move forward and are successful. But if Velez is charged and successfully convicted sequentially for both cases, she could face a maximum sentence of one year behind bars, according to Florida law.
