The theft itself was minor. On 30 August, a woman walked out of a Runnings hardware store in Monticello, Minnesota, carrying two double packs of power-tool batteries worth about $580 (£434). A store employee recognised her from an alleged theft at the same shop two days earlier, then gave police a description of her and the vehicle she drove away in, along with its licence plate.
Days later, the routine case stopped being routine. The booking photo of Cyrena Anne Quast, 35, of Saint Cloud, spread across social media, and thousands of people were convinced they were looking at Jennifer Lopez.
