Snopes.com6%
13 fake arrest stories that spread with fabricated, misused mug shots 46%
By Aleksandra Wrona9%
7/19/2026, 6:00:08 PM
Topics: Misused Mugshots, AI Generated Images
BS Summary: This article contains 22 faulty reasoning types, including Anecdotal, Quote-first Misdirection, and Negativity Bias, with Unattributed Quote as the most egregious example at 35.5% saturation with 170 hits. Analysis detected 1,486 faulty-reasoning hits from 479 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 48.5% and a BS Rank of 46% (10,139 of 18,604 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 54.50% of the article peer group.
Fabricated arrest stories have become a common way for social media accounts to attract attention, often using police-style mug shots to make bizarre claims appear credible.
Some posts feature entirely AI-generated faces, while others reuse genuine mug shots and falsely associate the people pictured with crimes they never committed.
Many originate from satirical social media accounts but are later shared without labels or context, leading some readers to mistake them for authentic news reports.
Below are 13 examples of fake arrest stories featuring fake or misused mug shots that we've investigated over the years:
Was Florida woman arrested after riding shopping cart down highway?
Not so fast
According to the tale, the woman had fashioned a sail out of a shower curtain.
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Did police arrest woman for posing as Costco employee, handing out meatball samples?
According to the story, police took Sienna Halverson, 31, into custody in Glendale, Arizona.
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Was Florida woman arrested for handing out tequila samples in Costco?
The story originated from social media posts by The Dude Humor Report, which labels its content ...
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Was Memphis woman arrested after listing husband for sale on Facebook Marketplace?
According to the story, Tammy Sue Pickens of Memphis, Tennessee, tried to sell her husband, Rick ...
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Was Florida man arrested after baptizing alligator in Waffle House?
Don't bite
According to the claim, the man attempted to use a pitcher of iced tea to perform the "baptism."
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Rumor has it Florida woman called police on neighbor for 'suspicious British accent.'
Don't be fooled
Before police arrived, the woman allegedly told her neighbor to “stop pretending to be British.”
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Did man break into Barnes & Noble to finish reading book?
According to the story, 48-year-old Gary Hollis of Portland, Oregon, broke into the bookstore to ...
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Was man named Ethan Caldwell arrested for posing as museum tour guide?
According to the tale, the man invented fake histories for every painting.
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Waffle House waitress was arrested after 'hash brown dispute'?
This story is circulating with an image supposedly showing the waitress's mugshot and donation l ...
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Police arrested Starbucks barista at Portland airport after tipping dispute?
The story said the barista asked customers who declined to tip, "You'll drop hundreds on plane t ...
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Texas man Deshawn Miller arrested for boat rescues during flooding?
Posts claimed the 42-year-old man rescued at least nine elderly residents trapped in a retiremen ...
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Criminal Caught After Cutting Off 37 Man Buns in 1 Day?
The alleged haircut bandit was purportedly arrested in February 2023.
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Was a Man Named Carl Twinly Arrested For Pretending to be a Cow?
The mugshot included in this rumor is genuine, but the story?
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Analysis
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