Police in Lufkin, Texas have identified a girl who was seen in a viral video licking a tub of ice cream and putting it back in a freezer inside a Walmart store.
In the now-infamous video, a Black girl giggles as she takes a gallon carton of Blue Bell ice cream from the freezer, removes the top and licks the frozen treat before placing it back in the freezer.
The viral video garnered over 13 million views on Twitter.com.
Police were alerted to the video and have been on the hunt for the girl, who was originally said to be facing up to 20 years in prison if charged with second-degree felony tampering, The Blast reports.
But since the girl is a minor, she will be turned over to the Texas Juvenile Justice Department. Police are not releasing her name.
According to Blue Bell officials, the ice cream was never sold or consumed by a customer. Blue Bell jumped into action when company execs saw the viral video, and the store was alerted.
“We thank everyone for their assistance in this case including the San Antonio Police Department, Lufkin Police Department, Walmart, and our customers who alerted us to this incident,” a statement from Blue Bell reads.
“Food safety is our top priority, and we work hard to provide a safe product and maintain the highest level of confidence from our consumers. We are always looking for ways to improve, including looking at methods within our manufacturing process to add additional protection to the carton.”
In a similar video, a person who appears to be transgender swishes mouthwash in his mouth before spitting the contaminated liquid back into the bottle and returning the bottle to the shelf in a grocery store.
And in a third video, a person who goes by the username “Shawn Mendez” on Twitter.com scoops a handful of ice cream out of a carton before placing it back in a freezer at another supermarket.
Mendez bragged that he started the viral challenge on Twitter.com.
I started the trend of opening products without buying them
— LARZ (@GAYSHAWNMENDES) July 4, 2019
