What. Was. This. Girl. Thinking?????

Year: Freshman. Hometown: Dorchester, Mass. High School: Boston Arts Academy. Major: Criminal Justice.

This was what was on Ariel F's profile on the Lasell University athletic website. Before the school took it down.

Ariel F.

I'm not going to use her full name.

She's going to have enough trouble trying to rebuild her life without having yet another rando blogger yacking about her. 

But Ariel F is a local (Dorchester) girl making good.

A graduate of Boston Arts Academy, Foster is/was a student athlete at Lasell University, where she was majoring in Criminal Justice. Of all things. 

Now she's facing charges that she stole over half a million dollars from the mall jewelry store where she was clerking - money she spent on trip to Hawaii, Louis Vuitton merch, and a Tesla.

Just a few weeks ago, Ariel was the subject of a profile in her neighborhood newspaper. The article focused on her athletic prowess. And her new Tesla. 

Ariel is a sprinter, and she recently set some school records. And in February "she received her third Rookie of the Week recognition from the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC)." The same week, she went to class and worked at her two jobs, but - according to the story - these jobs did not include the one at Lovisa, the mall jewelry store. Maybe she'd already moved on from that gig. The same week:

...she bought herself a Tesla with plans on how she’ll spec it out: “Right now, it’s red, but I’m going to wrap it pink—like a soft pink, nothing too bright—and the

interior’s white and will be pink and then I’m actually getting it tinted tomorrow,” she said. (Source: Dorchester Reporter)

The Tesla was Ariel' dream ride, all part of her overall heart's desire, and a big part of her motivation for exceling at track. 

It’s “just knowing what type of life I want to live,” she explained. “I have a really specific lifestyle I want to live. I do not want to stay in Dorchester, and definitely don’t want to stay in Massachusetts.”

Her track coach, poor gullible fellow, had high praise for his star athlete. 

"She’s just very a go-getter and takes the initiative. So, it’s definitely something that’s great about her and it’s very evident in all aspects of her life and work in the sport.”

He also praised Ariel's work ethic - and the fact that she was working multiple jobs:

“She was saying she works a lot because she was determined to have a Tesla before she’s 20 years old,” he said. “She’s focused on her goals, whatever they may be—sport related or not. And she just achieved that goal the other day and was able to purchase it. We’re a program that prioritizes personal, academic, career development, and sport development in unison.”

It was a lot easier to achieve that Tesla goal by stealing the money from her employer.

Police said she refunded a total of $547,187 in eight transactions at her job at Lovisa, a jewelry store in the Burlington Mall.

"An investigation determined that on three dates in February, items scanned at the register had their price increased, and the cost of the item was then allegedly refunded to a credit card belonging to Foster," Burlington Police said in a statement Thursday...

When they checked her bank account they said she bought a Tesla for more than $35,000, spent more than $20,000 on a hotel in Maui, Hawaii, almost $6,000 on Delta Air Lines tickets and nearly $5,000 on Louis Vuitton items. (Source: CBS News)

Well, she did say she had a very specific lifestyle in mind. 

But WHAT. WAS. SHE. THINKING?????

Clearly not about her future as an athlete, or her career in criminal justice. 

I wasn't familiar with Lovisa, but when I looked at their website, the most expensive item I could find cost less than $25. I don't care how terrible Ariel is at math, it never occurred to her that someone would notice transactions at the level where eight of them could mount up to more than a half-mill? (As an aside, why were there no controls in place at Lovisa that would have prevented a transaction at this level from going through? Bet they've got them in place now. Meanwhile, the store understandably thought at first that their systems had been hacked.)

This isn't like swiping ten bucks from the register, or pocketing a twelve-dollar necklace. This is grand larceny. This is a major felony. Ariel, if found guilty, she could spend years in prison. 

She's 19. 

Maybe she can make restitution. Maybe she can get a minimal sentence. Maybe she can plead stupidity. 

She's 19. Surely, she can rebuild her life. But it probably won't be as the famous athlete she hoped to be. Or whatever she had in mind for her criminal justice degree. 

In addition to having her eye on a specific lifestyle, Ariel also wanted out.

"I do not want to stay in Dorchester, and definitely don’t want to stay in Massachusetts.”

Chances are, she won't be staying in Dorchester for much longer.

As for Massachusetts, if she ends up doing time, it will probably be at MCI Framingham, which is the state's women's prison.

And there'll be no Louis Vuitton and no Tesla there

What a little fool...