Police arrest woman accused of threats to infest Dallas area Walmart with coronavirus
Police had been searching for her since Sunday and on Tuesday, a Carrollton woman surrendered to authorities after allegedly posting a series of social media videos threatening to purposely spread the virus that causes COVID-19.
Lorraine Maradiaga, 18, is suspected of making a terroristic threat, a third-degree felony, for her Snapchat content.
Maradiaga arranged with police to surrender at the Carrollton City Jail late Tuesday morning, a Carrollton Police Department news release said.
Maradiaga now says that she is COVID-19 negative, and police have no proof that she has tested positive for coronavirus, the release said.
Maradiaga was arraigned and her bond set at $20,000 before she was transferred to the Denton County Jail. As a condition of her bond, Maradiaga is ordered to quarantine for 21 days upon date of release from custody as a precaution.
Maradiaga is suspected of recording herself inside a Walmart after she said she tested positive for coronavirus on Saturday.
Carrollton police identified the teenager and said on Twitter that they were searching for her.
“We have no confirmation Maradiaga is actually a threat to public health,” Carrollton police said in a tweet. “We are, however, taking her social media actions very seriously.”
In a series of videos posted on her Snapchat, Maradiaga said she tested positive for COVID-19. One of her videos shows a woman who appears to be a physician telling Maradiaga to stay home.
Another video shows Maradiaga filming herself inside a store. She pans the camera around the aisles and says, “I’m here at Walmart about to infest every (expletive) because if I’m going down, all y’all (expletives) going down.”
Maradiaga said in a separate video, also posted to her Snapchat, that she did not care about staying home.
This story includes information from Star-Telegram archives.
This story was originally published April 7, 2020 at 5:14 PM.
