Former 16 and Pregnant star Nikkole Paulun is back in the news again after she and two friends were arrested in Michigan Friday and initially charged with third-degree retail fraud for shoplifting. Nikkole, who is currently 17 weeks pregnant, is remaining quiet about the arrest on social media, but we spoke to a source close to her who explains what happened.
According to our source, only one of the three people involved was actually attempting to take an item without paying, and that person wasn’t Nikkole. But, because Nikkole said she was aware of the theft, she got in trouble too.
Nikkole admitted she knew, says our source, because they were informed that if they told the truth the police would not be called. But, because one of the three did not have identification, the police were called anyway to verify the person’s identity. A state trooper arrived on the scene and it was his decision to arrest all three individuals involved.
Nikkole was booked and released without a bond and it is expected that she will face a lesser charge than the initial third-degree retail fraud charge.
UPDATE – Nikkole has since taken to Twitter to address her arrest:
Listen regardless of what happened, I was in the wrong. I knew something happened and didn’t say anything about it and went along with it. I confessed and admitted everything before anyone else said a word. I feel awful that I let something like this happen to me but honestly everyone’s negative sh!t is NOT helping me. The negative shit is not good for anyone, let alone a pregnant woman. I’m remaining as positive as I can for myself and my baby. If you’re gonna talk sh!t just please don’t even tag me in it.
Someone responded to Nikkole’s tweets by stating, “You don’t deserve pity for this f***-up. It’s not like you’re stealing to feed your child or due to poverty.” To which Nikkole responded by pointing out, “oh shut the f*** up. You don’t even know what happened. I had a cart full of stuff I PAID FOR. I had to have Ryan and his mom come pick it up.”
As mentioned above, Nikkole is 17 weeks pregnant. The 21-year-old mother of one has been updating fans on her pregnancy progress with the most recent update coming six days ago int he form of a baby bump photo and commentary from Nikkole:
Nikkole’s new baby will be joining older brother Lyle, who turned five in November.
