A 23-year-old Florida mum and TikTok influencer with more than half a million followers has been arrested after police say she tried to hide from officers inside a parked SUV.
Cape Coral police confirmed that Marlena Velez was taken into custody on 12 October after weeks of dodging law enforcement over a probation violation and a fleeing charge linked to a previous traffic stop.
According to police, officers spotted a grey 2022 Kia Sorento connected to Velez that afternoon. When they approached the vehicle, they saw her in the passenger seat—but within moments, she seemed to vanish.
“A flashlight scan revealed Velez lying on the backseat floorboard, attempting to hide,” the department said in a statement. Both she and the driver were detained after dispatch confirmed her active warrants. Velez now faces two counts of probation violation and one count of fleeing and eluding law enforcement. She’s being held at the Lee County Jail without bond.
Her arrest comes after a September 29 incident where an officer tried to pull her over in a residential area. Instead of stopping, police say she sped off, forcing the officer to abandon the chase for safety reasons. That incident led to the fleeing charge added to her record this week.
Velez’s legal problems reportedly started last year when she was accused of using fake barcodes at a Target store in Cape Coral to buy items at reduced prices. Police said the thefts were confirmed through store security footage—and her own TikTok posts.
Investigators said they were able to identify her thanks to a social media tip and later matched images from her Instagram and TikTok accounts taken around the same time as the thefts. Days later, she was arrested again at the same Target for a nearly identical scheme.
Despite her growing list of charges, Velez kept posting to her TikTok account, @marlenavelezz, where she has racked up more than 528,000 followers and over 11 million likes. Her page features lifestyle and fashion videos, “get ready with me” routines, and family clips with her two children.
Police say it was the same style of content that once helped them confirm her identity in the Target theft case. Her TikTok presence had made her popular among young followers who admired her beauty tips, fashion hauls and upbeat personality.
Fans were shocked to learn about her arrest, with some expressing disbelief that someone with such a large online following had been caught hiding in a car to evade police.
Velez remains behind bars as she awaits her next court hearing. Authorities have not said when she might appear before a judge.
For now, her TikTok account is still visible, with the latest videos showing her posing in everyday outfits and chatting casually with fans—just days before police found her lying on the floor of an SUV, trying to avoid being seen.
