Black Woman Walks Out of Target After Shopping, But Gets Detained for Alleged Theft. Then Staff Checked the CCTV Footage: ‘Put You in Handcuffs’
A tale as old as time.
What was supposed to be a quick errand run turned into a possible lawsuit when a Black woman claimed she was accused of retail theft as she was exiting a Target store in Cheltenham Township, Pennsylvania. A video originally shared by @maci_mulatto on Instagram on Aug. 13 showed a woman seemingly blocked from exiting by staff and police before being taken back inside for investigation.
Per the Atlanta Black Star, the woman was reportedly at Target with her cousin when the incident occurred. The woman claimed to have finished her shopping and had her items checked out and paid for while her cousin continued browsing through the store.
The woman alleges an employee offered the customers a shopping cart to help carry their items while her cousin was paying at the self-checkout counter. After paying for their items, the woman and her cousin reportedly went to purchase a drink from Starbucks.
Target staff stops Black woman from leaving store
According to the woman, they became concerned when they noticed a loss prevention officer monitoring them throughout their remaining time at the store. “I’m not going to lie. I thought he was going to try to steal our purses,” the woman said.
The woman confirmed that the loss prevention officer was the man wearing casual clothing with dreadlocks and wired earphones, who can be seen supposedly stopping the woman from leaving Target. A similar incident occurred to a woman who was also accused of theft at an Urban Outfitters store, which sparked debate over racial profiling by staff.
The woman said she became more frustrated when her cousin claimed to have noticed the staff seemingly alert Starbucks baristas to the two, allegedly mouthing that they were committing theft. This incident prompted the woman and her cousin to begin recording.
“I have my receipt. I’m saying, though, I did not take nothing from y’all’s store,” the woman said in the video when two Target staff and a police officer approached her. “I’m saying I have my receipt; my purse is here. I’ve let ya’ll go through my purse, the officer, and all of my items are right here.” It remains unclear whether the police officer was responding to a call or he was already at Target at the time of the incident.
The woman continued to defend herself, denying their claims of retail theft. However, both the staff and police officer refused to let her exit and insisted she needed to be investigated back in the store. One of the other staff, dressed in plain clothing, mentioned the woman’s parked car outside, supposedly adding to their suspicion.
Woman plans to sue the store for false claims
The woman claimed that staff and the police officer didn’t inspect her car despite making claims that it was suspicious. “That’s why I felt so powerless and unheard. Once the guy said I took everything in my cart, the officer immediately put his hands on the cart,” the woman reportedly said.
“Miss, you’re under investigation,” the police officer said. “Now you’re detained. We can go back to the office now, or we could go back in handcuffs. It’s up to you.” The woman was subsequently escorted back inside with her items. Such an incident also happened to another Black woman at UNIQLO, whose detainment allegedly stemmed from a label that fell on the floor.
In a second video shared, the woman can be seen in an office, with one of the staff seemingly checking through CCTV footage of the incident. The staff then admits that the woman wasn’t lying. “Alright, I checked it. You wasn’t lying. So, that’s my apology,” the man said before handing the woman back her receipt.
According to the woman, she is planning to file a lawsuit against Target following the incident. However, it remains uncertain whether the woman will include the police officer. “[The officer] just went from standing there curious about the situation, not really saying much up until the loss prevention officer escalated it. The police officer didn’t investigate,” the woman said.
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