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A Florida TikTok influencer and mother of two who built an online following with lifestyle and fashion videos was arrested over the weekend after police say she tried to hide from officers inside a parked SUV.
Cape Coral police said Marlena Velez, 23, was arrested Oct. 12 after weeks of evading law enforcement related to a probation violation and a fleeing charge stemming from a traffic stop in September.
Police say officers spotted a gray 2022 Kia Sorento linked to Velez that afternoon. During the stop, officers first saw her in the passenger seat, but moments later she appeared to disappear.
“A flashlight scan revealed that Velez was lying on the floor of the back seat, attempting to hide,” the department said in a statement.
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Bodycam footage shows TikTok influencer Marlena Velez during her November 2024 arrest in Cape Coral, Florida. (Cape Coral Police Department)
She and the driver were arrested as dispatch confirmed her active arrest warrants. Velez now faces two counts of violating probation and one count of fleeing and eluding law enforcement. She remains held in the Lee County Jail without bond.
The arrest stemmed from a Sept. 29 incident in which a police officer attempted to stop Velez after recognizing her walking through a residential neighborhood. Police say she fled at high speed, forcing the officer to break off the chase. That pursuit led to an additional fleeing charge added this week.
Investigators say Velez’s legal troubles began nearly a year ago, when she was accused of using fake barcodes at a Cape Coral Target to buy discounted items, thefts that police say were confirmed by security video and her own TikTok activity.
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TikTok influencer Marlena Velez is shown in a booking photo after her arrest on October 12, 2025 in Cape Coral, Florida. (Cape Coral Police Department)
Agents identified Velez through a social media tip and then verified his identity by matching Instagram and TikTok posts from the same time period. A few days later, she was arrested again at the same store for an almost identical incident.
Despite the mounting accusations, Velez continued to post on his account, @marlenavelezz, which has more than 528,000 followers and 11.8 million likes. His content includes lifestyle clips, family vlogs and “Get Ready With Me” routines, the same style of videos that once helped police identify him in the Target theft case.
TikTok influencer Marlena Velez is shown in a 2024 booking photo after her arrest in Cape Coral, Florida. (Cape Coral Police Department)
Florida law allows police to detain suspects accused of probation violations without bail. His initial charges stemmed from petty thefts worth less than $750.
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Velez is scheduled to appear in Lee County Court later this month.
