Woman arrested after being pulled over with $2,500 worth of Stanley cups in her car

The Stanley cup craze has reached new heights after a woman was arrested for allegedly stealing 65 stainless steel water bottles from a store in California.

According to the Roseville Police Department, a 23-year-old woman was arrested for theft outside Sacramento when police discovered 65 Stanley products in her car worth nearly $2,500. Employees at a retail store on Stanford Ranch Road alerted police after they “saw a woman take a shopping cart full of Stanley water bottles without paying for them,” per the police department’s Facebook post.

“The suspect refused to stop for staff and stuffed her car with the stolen merchandise,” the post read. “An officer spotted the suspect vehicle as it entered Highway 65 from Galleria Blvd and initiated a traffic stop.”

“While Stanley Quenchers are all the rage, we strongly advise against turning to crime to fulfill your hydration habits,” the Roseville Police Department added. Photos shared by police showed the woman’s car trunk and passenger seat filled with a variety of Stanley cups.

In recent months, the reusable water bottle company has become all the rage as people scramble to get their hands on the drinkware. While the brand Stanley 1913 has been active for more than a century, it has gained new popularity for the 40-ounce Quencher cup, priced at $45 (£35.40). Not only is the Stanley cup known to keep drinks cool for 48 hours, but much of its cult-like following is due to its variety of colours and limited-edition items.

In January, shoppers were seen rushing towards a display of limited-edition Stanley cups in Target. The tumblers were a part of the brand’s “Galentines” collection. “I love Stanley, but I will not do this for a cup,” one person commented on the clip, while another said: “All for a Stanley?”

Police later issued a warning that scammers are selling counterfeit Stanley products, with fakes being targeted to customers for as low as $19.

Meanwhile, one woman claimed her daughter was being bullied for owning a knockoff Stanley cup. In a viral TikTok video, mother Dayna Motycka revealed that she had bought her daughter an off-brand cup from Walmart worth $9.98 (£7.85). However, when her daughter returned home from school, she said she was made fun of for owning the cup.

The mother explained that many of her daughter’s classmates had been given Stanley cups for Christmas and went out of their way “to let her know that this is not a real Stanley, that this is fake and it’s not as cool”.

“Can we afford to buy her a Stanley? Yes. Did I think that she needed one? No,” Motycka explained. “Apparently I’ve been proven wrong by the children in our school that are making fun of her for not having a real, name-brand Stanley.”

Motycka - who already had her own Stanley cup at the time - promptly spent $35 (£27.52) to buy her daughter a real 30-ounce white Stanley cup. She explained: “If you’re a parent and you can do something to keep your child from getting made fun of, to help fit in, you’re gonna do it.”