An award‑winning Southern California ice cream shop reported that a life‑size cardboard cutout of a pop star was stolen during a Monday evening incident.
Surveillance footage captured a barefoot individual, wearing a white T‑shirt, black joggers and a black baseball cap, entering the Camarillo location at about 8:21 p.m. The person briefly surveyed the interior, retrieved the cutout near the entrance and exited without interacting with staff or customers.
Additional camera angles show the same individual visiting the store earlier with a group of friends around 8:00 p.m., enjoying ice cream before leaving. The footage later shows the man returning alone roughly twenty minutes later.
The cutout had been part of a limited‑time promotion tied to the shop’s “Swiftie Swirl” soft‑serve offering, which featured vanilla soft serve mixed with cookie dough and chocolate dip, topped with confectionery items. The promotion invited patrons to take photos with the standee.
Despite the theft, the shop confirmed that the “Swiftie Swirl” remains available at its Ventura and Camarillo locations for the remainder of the week, though the photo opportunity in Camarillo is no longer possible.
The incident quickly attracted online attention, with commenters referring to the perpetrator as the “barefoot bandit” and speculating that the lack of shoes suggested a nearby residence.
The ice cream shop, which received a local best‑frozen‑dessert award last year, has asked the public to report any information that could help identify the suspect.
