Police ID Blue Bell licker as San Antonio juvenile

After an online a video surfaced that showed a woman removing a carton ice cream from a grocery freezer, licking it and putting it back, Texas-based Blue Bell Ice Cream said it is considering adding more protections to its cartons.

Optimus Primal ‏ @BlindDensetsu Jun 29 More What kinda psychopathic behavior is this?! less After an online a video surfaced that showed a woman removing a carton ice cream from a grocery freezer, licking it and putting it back, Texas-based Blue Bell Ice Cream said it is considering adding more ... more Photo: Twitter Photo: Twitter Image 1 of / 9 Caption Close Police ID Blue Bell licker as San Antonio juvenile 1 / 9 Back to Gallery

Authorities have identified and spoken with a teenager believed to be the person shown on a viral video opening a carton of Blue Bell, licking the ice cream and putting it back in the freezer.

Detectives Friday morning announced they had spoken with the alleged licker, who they said was a juvenile from San Antonio.

Because she is a juvenile, her identity was not released.

The video, which went viral last week and has been viewed more than 12 million times, is believed to have been taken at a Lufkin Walmart.

The juvenile suspect's boyfriend is from the Lufkin area. Police identified him as the person who filmed the video.

The video footage, which had more than 12 million views on Twitter as of Friday morning, shows the teen standing in the aisle at a grocery store as she runs her tongue across the top of an open half-gallon of Blue Bell Tin Roof ice cream.

She then can be seen laughing as she puts the lid back on the container and returns it to the freezer.

Police said Wednesday they had obtained surveillance video placing a woman matching the suspect description at the Lufkin Walmart store at 2500 Daniel McCall Drive on June 28 at around 11 p.m.

At that time, police said they were working to verify the identity of the suspect before issuing a warrant for her arrest on a charge of tampering with a consumer product.

The charge is a second-degree felony, which carries a punishment range of two to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000 for an adult, according to the Texas penal code.

FDA and federal charges also may be pending, police said.

"The safety of our ice cream is our highest priority, and we work hard to maintain the highest level of confidence of our customers," Blue Bell ice cream said in a release Wednesday.

"Food tampering is not a joke, and we will not tolerate tampering with our products. We are grateful to the customers who alerted us and provided us with information."

Out of caution, Blue Bell said it has removed all Tin Roof half-gallons from the Lufkin store.

The case has been turned over to the Texas Juvenile Justice Department, according to Lufkin police.

Marcy de Luna is a digital reporter. You can follow her on Twitter @MarcydeLuna and Facebook @MarcydeLuna. Read her stories on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and on our subscriber site, HoustonChronicle.com. | Marcy.deLuna@chron.com | Text CHRON to 77453 to receive breaking news alerts by text message