Another TLC Star Is Behind Bars on Multiple Charges

Unexpected star Anthony Vanelli is behind bars facing multiple charges, including a third-degree felony. The 21-year-old ex of TLC mom Rilah Ferrer was arrested on Feb. 16 by police in Seminole County, Florida after allegedly tampering with his ankle monitor and attempting to flee a police officer.

Vanelli was wearing a monitor as part of the county’s GPS monitoring program for people accused of or convicted of domestic violence, according to an arrest report obtained by Starcasm earlier this month. Police received an alert that the strap of the monitor had been tampered with at about 6:25 p.m. on Feb. 16, and when police arrived at the home in which Vanelli was living with his grandmother, they saw lights being turned off.

Police knocked on both the front and back door but received no answer, and made multiple calls to Vanelli’s phone before he finally picked up. “Dispatch advised Vanelli that Deputies are aware of his location due to the GPS he is wearing,” the arrest report continues. “While speaking to dispatch, Vanelli stated to dispatch that he was going to step out of the home just before he stopped answering dispatch’s questions.”

When the officer “attempted to make contact at the front door again when Vanelli opened the back door of his residence and fled on foot, jumping the fence directly behind his residence.” Vanelli was reportedly still wearing the device, which had allegedly been tampered with, and was able to be tracked to the grounds of a nearby school “where a school event was actively taking place.”

Vanelli was eventually detained by an Altamonte Springs Police Department officer between the school and an apartment building. The reality personality has been charged with a third-degree felony count of tampering with an electronic monitoring device as well as misdemeanor counts of resisting an officer without violence and trespassing on school grounds. Jail records indicate that Vanelli is still in custody with a court hearing scheduled for June 8.

Vanelli is also facing a felony aggravated assault charge after allegedly pulling a knife on a woman in April 2021, which he has claimed was an act of self-defense. Vanelli previously was arrested in October 2019 on allegations of domestic violence after an altercation with Ferrer, and in February 2021, he was arrested on suspicion of stealing his grandmother’s car and shooting his former stepfather’s house. Vanelli was originally charged with shooting into an occupied dwelling and improper exhibition of a dangerous weapon or firearm, but charges were later dropped. In November 2021, Vanelli was arrested and charged with misdemeanor domestic battery after an alleged altercation with a man at his grandmother’s home, but that charge also was dropped.