Viral video ice cream licker could face 20 years behind bars, police say as they close in
The woman on a video licking a tub of ice cream then placing it back into a store freezer could be in police custody soon and facing serious felony charges
Police say they know the identity of the woman in a viral video who opened a half-gallon tub of Blue Bell ice cream viral video, licked it and placed it back inside the store freezer case at a Walmart in Lufkin, Tex., according to USA Today. As authorities close in, she could be facing a stiff penalty for the act.
Blue Bell Creameries, intent on locating the suspect, contacted Lufkin police after learning the store’s location. The company determined this by asking each of its division managers to review their ice cream displays to see if they resemble the setup of the one on the video.
A Lufkin division manager pinpointed that the video was taken at a Walmart in Lufkin due to “the store’s unique merchandising, which matched the video,” police said in a Facebook post.
Police say the prison term the woman could face is significant.
Lufkin police emailed a statement to USA Today, in which police wrote, “Tampering with a consumer product is a second-degree felony and carries a punishment range of 2-20 years. The department is consulting with the FDA and federal charges may also be pending.”
Police added that they are “appalled” and taking the crime “incredibly seriously.”
Blue Bell also took extra precautionary measures in removing the tub of ice cream licked by the woman, as well as all half-gallon containers of “Tin Roof” ice cream from Walmart, police said.
“The safety of our ice cream is our highest priority, and we work hard to maintain the highest level of confidence of our customers,” Blue Bell said in a statement to USA TODAY. “Food tampering is not a joke, and we will not tolerate tampering with our products. We are grateful to the customers who alerted us and provided us with information.”
The viral video, posted to Twitter on June 29, has been viewed more than 11 million times.
https://twitter.com/BlindDensetsu/status/1144954255318671366
Lufkin police honed in on surveillance video and has found a woman matching the description of the woman in the video. Police have so far not released her name, pending the investigation.
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