Police are considering felony charges after a Walmart shopper was caught on video last week licking an opened ice cream container, then placing it back on the shelf.
A video posted to Twitter on June 29 and viewed more than 11 million times shows the woman sampling a half-gallon container of Blue Bell’s “Tin Roof” before replacing the lid and tossing it back into the freezer.
The Lufkin, Texas, police department says the incident happened in the local Walmart and that it’s still working to confirm the woman’s identity after social media users claimed to have identified her.
Police told NBC News the culprit could be hit with a second-degree felony charge for tampering with a consumer product, which could result in two to 20 years in prison under the state penal code.
In a statement Wednesday, police said the investigation is ongoing and that they obtained surveillance footage of the suspect.
“Appropriate charges will be filed,” the department said.
Following the incident, all half-gallon containers of “Tin Roof” were removed from the store’s shelves.
In a statement on its website, Blue Bell called the incident a “malicious act of food tampering” and said it believes it may have located the compromised confection.
“Food tampering is not a joke, and we will not tolerate tampering with our products,” the company warned. “We are grateful to the customers who alerted us and provided us with information.”