Splash Heard 'Round the World': ABC News Sympathizes With Texting Woman Who Walked Into Fountain

As we've previously reported, a Pennsylvania woman who mindlessly wandered into a mall fountain while concentrating on composing a text message has hired legal counsel and launched a public awareness campaign warning people of the dangers of texting and walking. Cathy Cruz Marrero, a Reading, Penn., resident, has also publicly criticized the mall and its security for not coming to her aid following her fall.

On Thursday morning, ABC's Good Morning America highlighted Marrero's plight, calling her fall the "splash heard 'round the wold":

Co-host George Stephanopoulos sympathized with the clumsy woman, saying "I get it... this could be me."

Marrero is now considering taking legal action against the Berkshire mall after its employees used a cell phone camera to post the admittedly hilarious video on the internet.

After throwing herself further into the public spotlight, many have begun to question Marrero's motives.

According to the Reading Eagle, Marrero was in Berks County Court after her Good Morning America appearance for a status hearing on theft-by-deception and related charges.  In October 2009, she was charged for using a co-worker's credit cards to make more than $5,000 in purchases at two local  stores.  According to police, Marrero changed the billing address on at least one of the cards so her co-worker would not receive the monthly bills and find out about the purchases.

In addition, she has had several retail theft charges and a hit-and-run charge on her record.  She currently owes more than $4,000 in restitution and is hoping to avoid jail time.

"Her prior personal affairs have nothing to do with what happened to her at the Berkshire Mall and the video that has been posted," her attorney says.

Some people -- including commenters on The Blaze -- have suggested Marrero staged the accident to collect money.  But her attorney says "for that to be true, she would have had to know this was going to be posted to YouTube."

"What we want is an apology," he said. "We also want to know what happened, how it happened and who is responsible and then we'll go from there."

In the meantime, the Berkshire Mall's security contractor released a statement Thursday saying that it had fired a security guard responsible for releasing the video.