Ice cream licker spawns copycats; one of them faces charges

It was Blue Bell the man came after, and in the ice cream aisle, he peeled back the lid, took two licks and stuck his finger in before returning the container in a Louisiana store, a video shows. If that sounds familiar, it is. A run of copycats have recorded themselves licking Blue Bell ice cream in stores after a juvenile’s June video led to a police investigation — and 13 million views on one video posted to Twitter. Authorities said the juvenile is from San Antonio.

The Louisiana incident led to the Saturday arrest of Lenise Martin III, 36, in Assumption Parish, west of New Orleans. Martin was charged with criminal mischief and unlawful posting of criminal activity for notoriety and publicity, jail records show. He was held on bail over the weekend.

A jail receptionist said he was released Monday but did not know whether he was released on bail. Martin could not be reached for comment, and it was unclear if he has an attorney. The Assumption Parish sheriff ’s office did not return a request for comment.

Authorities think that Martin’s alleged crime was a copycat incident inspired by other videos, Cmdr. Lonny Cavalier, a sheriff ’s office spokesman, told CNN, after finding the video posted to Facebook.

Martin showed investigators a receipt for a container of Blue Bell ice cream, Cavalier told CNN, to suggest that he paid for the contaminated ice cream.

“Taking into consideration that he eventually purchased the same container is one thing,” Cavalier said.

“However,” Cavalier added, “he puts it on Facebook to gain this notoriety, and at the end of the day, it gives other people ideas that are not in the best interest of public health.”

In Lufkin, police identified a juvenile in the original video, the department said Friday, but declined to charge her with an adult crime and did not release her name because she is under 17. Texas juvenile justice authorities will handle the case, the department said.

Blue Bell identified the Walmart where the juvenile licked a half-gallon tub of Tin Roof ice cream in what it called a “malicious act of food tampering,” spokeswoman Jenny Van Dorf said in a statement. The company thinks that it found the compromised ice cream but removed all half-gallon Tin Roof products from the store, she said.

“We are always looking for ways to improve, including looking at methods within our manufacturing process to add additional protection to the carton,” Van Dorf said.