Woman Who Accused Family Of Abusing Daughter At Costco Arrested

PALM DESERT, CA — A woman who accused a family of neglecting and sexually assaulting their daughter in a viral video taken at a Costco in Palm Desert was arrested for allegedly providing false information to deputies, sheriff's officials said Sunday.

In the video filmed on Aug. 20, Angelica Marie Mendez can be overheard saying that a Black girl accompanied by her white family members was being denied food and that the family was "probably using her as a slave."

Mendez also mentioned that she reported the family to the Riverside County Sheriff's Department in the video, which was shared on social media and garnered millions of views across the internet.

Sheriff's officials said the serious allegations "set in motion hundreds of staff-hours, by several law enforcement agencies, in two separate states."

At the request of Riverside County sheriff's officials, police in Gilbert, Arizona, said they contacted the family seen in the video.

In a tweet, Gilbert police said they determined the girl was "safe and in good health" and "it was found that the child had refused to eat the day of the video recording due to an upset stomach."

Gilbert police also said that the Arizona Department of Child Safety conducted its own separate investigation into the incident and that "no evidence of any crime has been established."

Despite the false nature of the accusations in the viral video, it triggered a fire storm of angry reactions online.

Back in Riverside County, sheriff's officials said a flood of calls about the video came into their dispatch center, as well as the offices of city and county officials.

"The countless calls to our Dispatch Center took up valuable call time for other citizens who were in need of emergency services," sheriff's officials said.

Mendez, 23, of Desert Hot Springs was arrested on Saturday and booked into the John Benoit Detention Center on suspicion of reporting a false crime and providing false information to a peace officer, both misdemeanor crimes.

"It appears the reporting person had seemingly made up the allegations and had no supporting evidence to substantiate her claims. Her claims, both to law enforcement and publicly had numerous inconsistencies," sheriff's officials said.

Mendez was released the same day of her arrest after posting $25 bail, according to inmate records.

—City News Service