- Police in California said a 23-year-old woman stole nearly $2,500 worth of Stanley cups.
- They said they recovered 65 items from the suspect’s car.
- The most popular size of the Stanley Quencher, a must-have item for tweens, retails for $45.
Police in Roseville, California, said a Sacramento woman brazenly stole nearly $2,500 worth of Stanley cups — the hugely popular drinking vessels.
The police department said that on Wednesday, staff at an unnamed retail store in Roseville saw a woman boldly loading a shopping cart filled with Stanley cups and leaving the premises without paying for them.
Despite being confronted by employees, the police said, the 23-year-old refused to stop and proceeded to fill the trunk of her car with the merchandise.
She was arrested on a charge of grand theft, police said, with a subsequent search of her vehicle leading to the recovery of 65 Stanley products — valued at nearly $2,500.
Images shared on Facebook by the police department show the trunk of a car filled with Stanley cups of varying sizes.
Roseville Police Department
The brand’s block-colored cups, called Quenchers, sell for $20 for the smallest version and $60 for the largest. The most popular size — the 40-ounce Quencher — retails for $45.
The police bust quickly left Facebook and went viral on other social media platforms — where much of the Stanley tumbler hype lives.
On X, users joked about the presentation of the Stanley cups in the the police department’s social media posts, likening it to an illicit drug bust.
“LMFAOOOO why tf did they spread them out like they busted a drug operation,” one post on the platform read.
Others questioned what could possibly be so great about the Stanley tumblers that would lead someone to allegedly commit a crime to get their hands on one.
The Roseville Police Department told Business Insider in a statement that it did not intend for its post to go so viral.
“We did not take the photo with any internet (viral video) in mind,” a spokesperson told BI. “Photos like this are standard in theft cases to show the merchandise that was stolen for evidentiary value and to document in pictures sometimes the quantity. It also helps in taking count/inventory so we can return and catalog the product to the retailer to arrive at a value stolen.”
So far, per the police spokesperson, this is one of the first thefts of Stanley cups seen by the department, but it is encouraging others to think twice about stealing the tumblers.
The Roseville Police Department said in a Facebook post on Sunday: “While Stanley Quenchers are all the rage, we strongly advise against turning to crime to fulfill your hydration habits.”
As Business Insider previously reported, though Stanley has existed since 1913, it gained newfound popularity last year when influencers started showcasing its cups on TikTok.
Since then, the hype has continued, with the company’s products being a much-gifted item for tweens this past Christmas.
Videos posted on TikTok show shoppers rushing to stores to try to buy limited-edition versions of the cups.
While the gigantic water bottles may be all the rage right now, a youth-consumer-trends analyst told BI that the cups might soon become uncool.
January 23, 2024: This story has been updated to include a comment from the Roseville Police Department.
