A 22-year-old Florida woman, Marlena Valez, was apprehended this week following an alleged theft from a Target store in Cape Coral, a bustling city on Florida’s southwestern Gulf Coast. Valez is facing a single charge of petit theft, a misdemeanor, for allegedly stealing merchandise valued between $100 and $750.
The incident unfolded on October 30, when Valez was observed by loss prevention staff entering the store and shopping in a seemingly ordinary manner. However, the situation took a turn when she reached the self-checkout register. According to a statement from the Cape Coral Police Department, Valez allegedly scanned a false barcode with lower prices instead of the actual barcodes on the items. The stolen goods, which included a variety of household items and clothing, were valued at $500.32. This was confirmed by reviewing the store’s security camera footage.
In an attempt to identify the suspect, law enforcement shared images from the store’s surveillance footage on their social media platforms. This move quickly bore fruit. An anonymous tipster, having seen the post, provided a possible identification for the suspect and also shared Valez’s Instagram handle with the police.
Authorities then discovered a TikTok post by Valez that they claim was even more audacious than the theft itself. In the video, Valez allegedly documented herself selecting items in the store and loading them into her car. Valez, who has nearly 300,000 followers, appears to be a content creator.
The police noted that Valez was wearing the same outfit and glasses in the TikTok video as the woman seen in the Target surveillance footage. “She posted a video that day of herself going to Target, buying these items, and then taking them home with her,” said Cape Coral Police Public Information Officer Mercedes Simonds. “Everything was documented.”
In a video produced by the police department, clips from Valez’s TikTok video appear to show her shopping for an assortment of kitchen goods and a box of disposable diapers, which she then loads into the trunk of her car. Valez was arrested on Thursday and was released a few hours later on a $150 cash bond. She is scheduled to appear in court on December 10.