A woman turned herself into the authorities after a surveillance tape showing her allegedly taking $13 from a 10-year-old girl went viral.
On Aug. 11, the young girl went into a beauty supply store in Shreveport, La., to shop for her grandmother, who was sitting in the car, KETK-TV reported.
As she placed her money on the counter, another woman eating an ice cream cone, later identified as Tanika Stephenson, approached the cashier and purchased something. While she was waiting for her change, the surveillance camera apparently caught her on tape slipping the little girl’s money into her purse before she slipped out of the store, according to KSLA-TV.
The local police posted the surveillance tape on its YouTube page. The video quickly collected approximately 3,700 hits.
That number may also seem small, but many of the viewers managed to identify Stephenson as the woman in the video — and they weren’t happy with her, according to KFXK-TV. Some viewers even sent her Facebook page and other information to authorities.
In the end, the viral campaign worked, according to KEEL-AM. Stephenson turned herself in on Monday morning after reportedly receiving dozens of phone calls from citizens over the weekend, some of which weren’t “very pleasant” she told detectives.
Stephenson was arrested and booked into the City Jail for one count of Misdemeanor Theft.
Crime Stoppers Coordinator, Sergeant Jim Taliaferro appreciated how citizen badgering helped cops bring in the suspect.
“It is very refreshing to have our citizens call Crime Stoppers to identify this suspect who stole money from a child and I applaud those tipsters who declined a possible reward for their information,” he told KSLA-TV.
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