A 15-year-old boy in Texas is accused of urinating on a shelf in a Walmart store over the weekend, authorities confirmed.
Police identified the suspect after a video of the incident circulated on social media, which showed a group of teenagers laughing over a puddle of urine next to several bottles of wine on a shelf within the store in Porter, Texas.
The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office said that, despite the original video not showing the act itself, surveillance footage from the store confirmed one of the teenagers had urinated on the shelf.
Police said it’s recommended prosecutors charge the boy – who hasn’t been named because of his age – with tampering with a consumer product, something which is a second-degree felony.
In a statement released by the department, police referred to the act as ‘vulgar’ and said such behaviour would not be tolerated.
They went on to say:
The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office will not tolerate these types of vulgar acts. Tampering with consumer products is not only morally reprehensible but can be a felony offense by which offenders will be charged.
As reported by 6ABC Action News, the video which circulated online also showed several people attempting to steal a case of beer on July 27, when the incident occurred.
The sheriff’s office said that while two other people were present at the time of the incident, they were not facing any charges at this time. They also said the suspects were stopped by Walmart security as they tried to leave the store, but were eventually let go.
After they had left the store, urine was allegedly found on a shelf near the alcoholic drinks aisle, with police saying tampering with consumer products is not only ‘morally reprehensible,’ it can be a ‘felony offence’ too.
Walmart called the act ‘obscene,’ while referring to the boy’s alleged conduct as ‘outrageous’ and disappointing’. The store confirmed the area was sanitised as soon as they were notified, to ensure its ‘cleanliness and safety’ for their customers.
This comes just a few days after a woman was accused of urinating on potatoes in another Walmart store in western Pennsylvania.
Shortly after that incident, which is said to have taken place sometime late on July 24 or early July 25, West Mifflin Police posted surveillance photos to their Twitter account hoping to identify the suspect.
The suspect, later identified as Grace Brown, handed herself into police on Tuesday (July 30) and is said to be facing multiple charges for the incident.
WTAE-TV reporter Marcie Cipriani shared an update on the situation on Twitter, confirming the woman will be charged with ‘Criminal Mischief, Open Lewdness, Disorderly Conduct and Public Drunkenness’ for urinating on potatoes inside the West Mifflin Walmart.
I wish I could say these incidents of people peeing on food items were a one-off, but it appears they’re just the latest in a series of unhygienic viral trends.
Just last month, a woman went viral for licking ice cream before placing the tub back in a store’s freezer, while a Florida woman was also recently arrested for allegedly ruining more than $2,000 of food after spitting and urinating into the store’s ice cream.
What is going on?!
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A Broadcast Journalism Masters graduate who went on to achieve an NCTJ level 3 Diploma in Journalism, Lucy has done stints at ITV, BBC Inside Out and Key 103. While working as a journalist for UNILAD, Lucy has reported on breaking news stories while also writing features about mental health, cervical screening awareness, and Little Mix (who she is unapologetically obsessed with).