When it was discovered that the suspect accused of licking ice cream for sale in Walmart is underage the authorities are now trying to determine what charges she might face in the juvenile justice system.
At the end of June, a video that reached viral status on the internet depicted a female holding an open half-gallon container of Blue Bell Tin Roof Sundae ice cream in a Walmart located in Lufkin, Texas. As a man’s voice can be heard egging her on the young woman took a lick off the top of the product before reaffixing the lid and returning it to the shelf.
The authorities learned of the incident and started trying to locate the person seen in the video, and Blue Bell had all of their half-gallons of Tin Roof Sundae taken off the shelves as a preventative action against buyers being exposed to contamination.
As they continued to search for the suspect the police reported that they found up to six online accounts claiming that they were the person responsible for the act that was seen in the video. The user names were very close to the name of the person that they believed to be the actual suspect which caused difficulty in finding the offender.
When the suspect was located the authorities had expected to issue felony charges for tampering with a consumer product. If convicted of that charge, one could be sent to prison for a maximum of 20 years in addition to paying fines up to $10,000.
A few days after the release of the video the police believed they had tracked down the suspect. She was identified as a teenage girl from San Antonio, which is nearly 5 hours away from the Walmart where the reported incident took place.
After collecting more information the police learned that the girl’s adult boyfriend lives in Lufkin. They have purported that he is the reason the young woman was in the city.
Since the suspect is a teenager the authorities have decided to prosecute her as a juvenile and they are still deciding what charges she may face. They are additionally trying to determine whether or not to prosecute her boyfriend for his suspected involvement in the incident.
If you or someone you love is suspected of a crime, contact Orange County criminal defense lawyer Staycie R. Sena at (949) 477-8088 for a consultation now.