Photo via New York Post

Minnesota shoplifter’s mugshot goes viral for striking resemblance to Jennifer Lopez

Read the original at New York Post ↗
Cite

Morrison, E. (2026, September 17). Minnesota shoplifter’s mugshot goes viral for striking resemblance to Jennifer Lopez. New York Post. https://nypost.com/2026/09/16/us-news/minnesota-shoplifters-mugshot-goes-viral-for-striking-resemblance-to-jennifer-lopez/

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

New York Post · collected 2026-09-17 · by Ella Morrison

Quick Summary

Cyrena Anne Quast, 35, from Saint Cloud, Minnesota, was arrested on August 30 for stealing batteries worth approximately $580 from a store in Monticello. The arrest gained significant attention due to her strong resemblance to Jennifer Lopez, leading to widespread online commentary and memes comparing the two. While Quast admitted to the theft, the focus of the viral coverage has been her likeness to the pop star rather than the crime itself.
Written by AI on 2026-09-17, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).
See how they differ ↓

AI analysis

Story summary

Cyrena Anne Quast, 35, from Monticello, Minnesota, went viral in August after her mugshot for a theft charge was posted online. Quast allegedly stole two double packs of power tool batteries worth $580 from a store on August 30. Her arrest photo drew widespread attention due to its striking resemblance to pop star Jennifer Lopez, leading many internet users to joke that they mistook the mugshot for J.Lo. Despite the viral comparison, Quast has an extensive criminal record dating back to 2011, including charges such as drug possession and driving under the influence (DUI).

Written for “Minnesota Shoplifter JLookalike” on 2026-11-13, grounded in this article and the 2 other(s) covering the same event.

How they differ

3 outlets covered “Minnesota Shoplifter JLookalike”.

What each outlet says

One AI summary per outlet of its latest article on this story, written from that article alone and checked against it. Open the article for the outlet's own words.

New York PostThis outlet17 Sep

Cyrena Anne Quast, 35, from Saint Cloud, Minnesota, was arrested on August 30 for stealing batteries worth approximately $580 from a store in Monticello. The arrest gained significant attention due to her strong resemblance to Jennifer Lopez, leading to widespread online commentary and memes comparing the two. While Quast admitted to the theft, the focus of the viral coverage has been her likeness to the pop star…

Minnesota shoplifter’s mugshot goes viral for striking resemblance to Jennifer Lopez (this article)
Daily Mail16 Sep

Cyrena Anne Quast, 35, was arrested on August 30 in Monticello, Minnesota, for stealing power tool batteries worth $578 from a local store. Her mugshot has gone viral due to her strong resemblance to actress and singer Jennifer Lopez. Despite the lighthearted comparisons online, Quast's criminal record includes multiple arrests for drug possession, DWI, theft, and other offenses since 2011. She was released without…

Minnesota woman's mugshot for stealing power tools goes viral as her looks are likened to VERY famous celebrity →
Fox News18 Sep

Cyrena Anne Quast, 35, was arrested in Monticello, Minnesota, on August 30 for allegedly stealing batteries worth about $580 from a store. Her mugshot went viral due to its resemblance to Jennifer Lopez, with many internet users comparing the two and suggesting they look alike or could be twins. However, others contested this comparison, arguing that there is no real resemblance between Quast and the pop star.

Minnesota woman's mugshot goes viral after social media users spot resemblance to Jennifer Lopez →

Where they agree and split

Framing

How the first headlines put it

Stated as fact2
The headlines (2)

Minnesota woman's mugshot for stealing power tools goes viral as her looks are likened to VERY famous celebrity Daily Mail · stated as fact

Minnesota shoplifter’s mugshot goes viral for striking resemblance to Jennifer Lopez New York Post · stated as fact

The full story: what happened, how it changed, and all 3 articles →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 27% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Fox News
Hedges 5 of 11 claims Outlet record 67/100

Story

Minnesota Shoplifter JLookalike
Crime & Law · 3 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
15
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
27%
4 of 15 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
66/100
New York Post's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
3
Crime & Law
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-17 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

New York Post · 19458 article(s) · 39 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 39 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Ella Morrison
103 article(s) here · 0 carrying a prediction
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Also by Ella Morrison
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 103 articles by Ella Morrison →

Topics

Minnesota Monticello Saint Cloud The Watch MN the Wright County Sheriff’s Office

Subjects

Jenny PERSON · 3× Quast PERSON · 3× Lopez PERSON · 2× Cyrena Anne Quast PERSON · 1× Jennifer Lopez PERSON · 1× Minnesota GPE · 1× Monticello GPE · 1× Saint Cloud GPE · 1× The Watch MN ORG · 1× the Wright County Sheriff’s Office ORG · 1×

Narrative

The J.Lo-look-alike has previously been arrested for a slew of prior offences, including drug possession, DWI, fleeing police and providing false identification in addition to several traffic infractions, records show.
framing: mixed · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-17

Claims (15 extracted, 4 hedged)

A Minnesota woman has gone viral online for her shoplifting arrest mugshot, which bears an uncanny resemblance to chart-topper Jennifer Lopez. asserted
which → go → Lopez
Cyrena Anne Quast, 35, was arrested on Aug. 30 after she was accused of stealing two double packs of power tool batteries worth around $580 from a store in Monticello, according to a criminal complaint obtained by The Watch MN. uncertain
she → arrest → MN
A store employee reportedly recognized the Saint Cloud native from an alleged theft two days earlier and called the cops. uncertain
employee → recognize → cops
Quast reportedly admitted to swiping the battery packs and was booked on a gross misdemeanor theft charge, online arrest listings show. uncertain
listings → admit → charge
But her alleged sticky fingers isn’t what’s being talked about. asserted
what → allege → ?
Quast’s striking resemblance to the 57-year-old international superstar in her mugshot taken by the Wright County Sheriff’s Office has drawn massive attention online. asserted
resemblance → take → attention
“For a moment I thought it was jlo lmao,” one user quipped, while another joked, “There’s a glitch in the matrix lol.” asserted
another → think → matrix
Other users put a spin on the lyrics of Lopez’s iconic 2002 hit “Jenny from the Block” in comment sections where Lopez’s doppelgänger’s mugshot has been shared. asserted
mugshot → put → sections
“In prison she’s known as Jenny from D-Block!,” while another snarked, “Jenny been walking the block too much.” asserted
Jenny → know → block
“She’s definitely still Jenny from the block. asserted
She → ’ → block
“JENNIFER IF YOU DONT COME CLAIM YOUR SISTER RIGHT NEEOWWWWWWWW & DO THIS DNA TESTTTT. uncertain
YOU → come → TESTTTT
dis yo sistaaaaa gurlllllllllll,” another user joked. asserted
user → dis → ?
Quast was released the day after her Aug. 30 arrest, the Daily Mail reported. asserted
Mail → release → arrest
Online records indicate her arrest last month wasn’t her first run-in with the law. asserted
arrest → indicate → law
The J.Lo-look-alike has previously been arrested for a slew of prior offences, including drug possession, DWI, fleeing police and providing false identification in addition to several traffic infractions, records show. asserted
records → look → infractions
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