Cape Coral Woman followed by a man while shopping in Target

Published: Updated:
Target (WINK News)

A normal day of running errands inside the Cape Coral Target turned into a nightmare situation for one woman who says a man followed her around the store.

In a viral Facebook post, a woman tells her story of being followed around the Target by a suspicious man, who was even taking picture of her.

The woman said her first reaction to the situation was to get out of there.

Heather Deardorff said she experienced a similar situation at a Target in another state.

“I had a guy follow me around and then actually I was trying to lose him going down different aisles and he followed and waited outside the store for me,” said Deardorff.

In the most recent situation, the woman from Cape Coral wrote on Facebook that she ditched her cart and tried walking to different parts of the store, but no matter what she did the man was continuing to follow her.

Target said in a statement, “We’re aware of several social media posts from guests who witnessed behavior in our store that made them feel uncomfortable. We want our guests to know that we have security resources at every store to protect them…” [Read the full statement below]

“I just think that’s like a really nasty thing that you would think about even wanting to do to anybody let alone a female who is just minding their own business doing shopping,” said Pamela Fife, of Cape Coral.

Cape police say, based on information they were able to gather, Detective N. Jones was able to track down the suspect in question. The investigation revealed that no crime had been committed. The male was indeed taking pictures of females within the store but was never in an area that a person would have the expectation of privacy. The male was alone throughout the incident.

“If you feel unsafe, make sure that you go to the front of the store or to security staff or a manager. And of course if anybody ever touches, grabs, or tries to control you, scream, It draws attention and people will actually be focused on that and the last thing the criminal wants is to be identified by other people,” said Sergeant Alan Kolak of Cape Coral Police.

Full statement from Target:

“At Target, we’re firmly committed to the safety and security of all guests who shop in our stores. We’re aware of several social media posts from guests who witnessed behavior in our store that made them feel uncomfortable. We want our guests to know that we have security resources at every store to protect them, our team and Target’s property. Guests should report any behavior that makes them feel uncomfortable and we will support them and contact law enforcement as necessary. Additionally, we have team members at every store who will walk guests out to their cars if they need assistance. We’re working with law enforcement as they look into these posts and will provide them with any photos or videos that they need to support their investigation.”

 

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