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She didn’t film the actual crime but managed to give police all the evidence they could possibly ask for. Marlena Velez of Cape Coral, Florida, is one of those social media “influencer” types who turned to crime in support of her video habit.
Evidence all on TikTok
It’s not real bright to document criminal evidence on social media. Marlena Velez managed to attract 300,000 followers to her TikTok account. One of them ratted her out.
The on-screen personality “was arrested after police say she shoplifted $500 worth of merchandise from Target.” She was bold enough to film “part of it for her account.”
On Wednesday, November 20, the Cape Coral Police Department got a call from the Target store on NE Pine Island Road, so sent officers to respond. The manager wasn’t reporting a theft that just happened. They had evidence of a previous one.
“Loss Prevention at Target said that on October 30, an unknown female, later identified as Marlena Velez, 22, entered the store and grabbed items listed for sale.”
It took the security team a while to put a file together on the incident. They determined that “once Velez was at the self-checkout register, she did not scan the items’ barcodes.” She used a common trick, scanning instead “a false barcode with cheaper prices.”
The evidence indicates she stole sixteen separate items of “miscellaneous household goods and clothing.” The caper was featured in one of her episodes. In a much more sanitized version. The shoplifting part was carefully edited out.
An anonymous caller
In Florida, retail theft of $500 or more is worth prosecuting. Sale prices don’t count in that. Since her haul added up to $500.32, she was considered a fugitive criminal. Evidence from the security camera shows Ms. Velez stylishly attired in tan shirt, tan pants and glasses. Her “long black hair” was prominently displayed.
Every police department in America has it’s own social media pages so Cape Coral posted her picture on Facebook and Instagram. It didn’t take long to be recognized.
Hoping to collect a modest reward, “an anonymous caller reported that she saw the post on social media and gave CCPD Velez’s Instagram handle.” That was the big clue they needed to bust the case wide open. Following the cross-linked accounts around, “officers then found Velez’s TikTok account.”
She had one video posted the day of the theft. It’s now listed as evidence in her theft case. Cops high fived each other when they saw “her getting ready in the same outfit and glasses as seen in the Target surveillance video.” It got better.
She filmed herself cheerfully headed off to the scene of the crime. “Velez recorded herself picking out items inside the store.” Careful not to record her trip through the checkout line, the action resumes with her placing the evidence into her car.
She’s not nearly as popular on Instagram, with only 10,000 viewers. Velez is currently a guest of the Lee County Jail. Luckily for her, she’s only charged with “one count of petit theft more than $100, less than $750.” It’s not clear if her arrest will hurt or help her social media ratings.
