Moment wild brawl breaks out at California Target store
A violent brawl broke out at a California Target store involving several men and a teen who pleaded for mercy, crying out that he was only 13 years old, witnesses said.
Shocking video taken inside the Target in Redlands on Monday night shows a group of four men surrounding someone before assaulting him as horrified shoppers looked on.
“They start swinging towards the Latino guy,” Laura Sanchez, a witness, told KTLA5. “It was like four against one.”
The victim could be seen in the video trying to take a swing at his attackers before being pummeled to the floor.
The group of four then circle him and start stomping and kicking him as bystanders call the police.
Sanchez said she could hear one of the people involved in the brawl yelling, “I’m 13, I’m 13! You can’t put your hands on me.”
Redlands police said no charges have been filed as the victim, who was not publicly identified, told them he wasn’t interested in speaking with the cops.
The cause of the brawl remains under investigation.
The fight marks the latest violent incident to erupt at the same Redlands shopping plaza on West Lugonia Avenue, with a similar incident caught on tape last month outside a Ross Dress for Less store.
The brawl is also the latest in a long wave of crime affecting Target, with CEO Brian Cornell informing investors Wednesday that violence has shot up inside the popular retailer’s stores.
Shoplifting that included “threats of violence” surged 120% during the first five months of the year, Cornell said during the company’s second-quarter earnings call.
“Our team continues to face an unacceptable amount of retail theft and organized retail crime,” Cornell added. “Unfortunately, safety incidents associated with theft are moving in the wrong direction.”