Woman goes to Target for paper towels, leaves with a stranger’s baby and cops everywhere: ‘Don’t ever shop at Mission Valley’
Yeah I’m definitely never going there.
The Mission Valley Target in San Diego has always had a “reputation.” But you wouldn’t expect to get out of there with a random baby while grocery shopping anyway. Yet, that’s exactly what happened to this young woman.
In a viral TikTok, creator Kristiana (@frankoceanstan3333) tells about her quick Target trip for household essentials. But, she chose the wrong Target and her hunt for paper towels turned into a legal and emotional whirlwind. It almost sounds like a plot from a prestige drama.
The two-part storytime details how a total stranger handed Kristiana his toddler and vanished into the parking lot. The video has amassed nearly 400,000 views on TikTok, and serves as a terrifying reminder of the unpredictable chaos that can unfold in broad daylight. But it’s also a masterclass in why you should never ignore your “stranger danger” instincts.
A man literally handed his baby girl to Kristiana and disappeared
The nightmare began as Kristiana was walking out of the store. A man holding a two- or three-year-old girl approached her. “I walk out of the store and this guy goes, ‘Excuse me!’ and I don’t turn around because, stranger danger, I’m not talking to anybody,” Kristiana recalled.
But the man called for her again, so she decided to see what’s happening. “He’s like, ‘Excuse me, I really, really need your help.’” Kristiana first through he would ask for money, but things were actually worse. The man claimed he was in the middle of a heated custody battle. Even then, Kristiana thought “How can I help? Where do I come in?” But little did she know.
The man allegedly confessed that he had taken the child from her “drunk” mother during a fight and was terrified of being arrested for kidnapping. Well, why would he be arrested for taking his own child? He apparently had no legal custody rights to the three-year-old. When Kristiana suggested he call the police, the man spiraled into a panic.
In a move that left viewers stunned, he handed the toddler to her, apologized, and ran away. The poor baby was reportedly wearing a dress but no diaper or pants. “He says, ‘I gotta go, I gotta go.’ He’s like crying, saying goodbye to his baby that’s in my arms now… Leaves Target without his baby.”
The Body Cam dilemma forced Kristiana into mom duties for baby
Suddenly finding herself as the involuntary guardian of a toddler, Kristiana alerted Target security and called 911. Her girlfriend rushed to the scene to provide support while they waited for the authorities to arrive. But when the police showed up, a unique legal hurdle emerged.
Because the child was without a diaper, the officers provided money for Kristiana’s girlfriend to go buy supplies. However, when it came time to actually change the child, the female officer explained she legally could not do it because her body camera could not be turned off. And it is a privacy violation to record a child in that state.
So, Kristiana had to step in and handle the changing duties in the Target fitting rooms herself while the officer stood guard. “We changed the baby, we came back out, the cops got their full statement from me,” she says. At that point, the child’s mother was already on the way and Kristiana left the baby with the police. But the story didn’t end there.
“Small world?” Kristiana learned exactly what the phrase means
The story took an even stranger turn once Kristiana left the scene. After her girlfriend sent a photo of the situation to their private group chat, a friend immediately recognized the child and the father. Apparently, her cousin was family friends with the child’s parents.
She then told the group chat that the man was infamous in their social circles for causing constant drama and being “creepy” at local businesses. Through this mutual connection, Kristiana was able to confirm that the child was safely reunited with her mother the following day.
While many users initially feared a human trafficking attempt, it was actually only a case of parental negligence and domestic instability.
Kristiana was happy the baby ended up with her
The comments section was flooded with people criticizing Kristiana for engaging with the man at all. But she was quick to offer a rebuttal to the victim blamers. “I am smart enough to know my surroundings… I was never out of sight,” she noted. She then added, “Honestly, thank God that that baby ended up with me.”
“If you have somebody willing to leave their three-year-old child with some random person at Target, I’m so thankful that it was me instead of somebody else.”
Kristiana opposed the suggestion that we should always “mind our own business.” Because for her, it would’ve been at the expense of a child’s safety. While the experience left her shaken, her willingness to step into the newborn baby trenches for a complete stranger ensured a toddler didn’t end up wandering a parking lot alone. But, she anyway warned everyone to avoid the Mission Valley Target.
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