00:00I usually don't shop at Target.
00:01I have nothing against the place, it's just in a pretty dangerous part of town.
00:05But last week, I was in the area picking up trash by the side of the road.
00:09It was community service that I had to do because of some misdemeanor stuff that I'd rather not talk about.
00:14So I spent six hours in the hot sun and was in a pretty crappy mood.
00:18I needed to cool off and buy some groceries before I went home, so I figured I'd just go to
00:22Target.
00:23I was in the alcohol section, minding my own business, when a woman came up to me and started filming
00:28me with her phone.
00:30She was laughing, too.
00:31I figured it was because I was still wearing the orange jumpsuit and I looked pretty dirty.
00:35I turned to her and asked what she wanted.
00:37She kept laughing and told me that she wanted to keep her camera on just in case I stole something.
00:42I should have ignored her, but I was so hot and so tired that I shouted,
00:46Get out of my face!
00:47She turned the camera back toward her and said,
00:50Did you see that? This criminal is threatening me!
00:52I forced myself to turn back around and ignore her.
00:55I couldn't allow myself to escalate the situation.
00:58I grabbed my beers and walked down the aisle.
01:01But the woman kept following me with her camera.
01:03She kept saying things like,
01:05I bet she's not going to pay for that!
01:06And,
01:07Of course she's buying alcohol!
01:09I can't tell you how angry I was.
01:11I had a bunch of other stuff to buy, but I couldn't stand the harassment anymore.
01:14I left my card in the middle of the aisle and just walked back to the front doors.
01:19The lady said,
01:20Wow, I guess I stopped her from stealing!
01:21We passed by a few more shoppers who all stared at us.
01:25I could tell by their expressions that they assumed I'd just been caught doing something illegal.
01:29I got out of the store and started walking toward the back where I'd left my car.
01:33That lady was still following me with her camera.
01:36She kept asking me where I was going.
01:38I tried my best to ignore her,
01:40even after she started calling me some racist names.
01:43I was pretty close to my car when I suddenly stopped.
01:46In the back of the store,
01:47I saw a man in a ski mask sitting on the loading dock.
01:50He was cleaning his knife and humming to himself.
01:53He had a pile of stolen boxes sitting next to him.
01:56I started to back up before he could see me.
01:59Because the woman was walking right behind me,
02:01I accidentally bumped into her.
02:02What the hell?
02:04She screamed.
02:05Did you just attack me?
02:06I whispered for her to be quiet, but she refused.
02:09If anything, her voice was getting louder.
02:11I looked around the edge of the building
02:13and saw that the man in the mask was walking toward us.
02:15I told the lady that we had to get out of there.
02:18She just kept screaming that I was attacking her.
02:20I begged her to listen to me.
02:22That just made her angrier.
02:24She shoved me hard against my shoulder
02:25and told me that she was going to call the police.
02:28By then, the man had reached us,
02:30but the lady was so focused on me
02:32that she didn't notice him.
02:34I grabbed her arm and tried to pull her away,
02:36but she shoved me again.
02:38I fell to the ground
02:39just as the woman noticed the man with the knife.
02:41She dropped her phone and instantly ran off,
02:44leaving me there.
02:45I tried to get back out,
02:46but the man was standing over me.
02:48He pushed one foot into my back,
02:50pinning me onto the hot concrete.
02:52I begged him to let me go.
02:54I told him that I didn't see anything,
02:55that I wouldn't tell anybody.
02:57He didn't believe me.
02:58His words were slurred,
02:59and I could tell he was either drunk or high.
03:02He screamed for me to stay still.
03:04I couldn't move.
03:05I felt so vulnerable.
03:06With my face against the ground,
03:08I couldn't see what the man was planning to do to me.
03:10All I could do was pray that someone would come and save me.
03:14The man raised his foot and ordered me to stand up.
03:17I tried,
03:18but I was honestly so scared and in pain
03:19that I didn't have the strength in my arms to push myself back up.
03:22He grabbed me by the back of the shirt and pulled me to my feet.
03:25He spun me around to face him.
03:27I'll always remember what his eyes looked like under that mask.
03:30They were red and wide open, absolutely insane.
03:34He pointed the knife at me and demanded that I come with him.
03:37Just then, I heard voices behind me.
03:39Several men were screaming at us, telling him to let me go.
03:42The masked man instantly dropped his knife and ran away.
03:45I watched as two policemen ran after him and tackled him to the ground.
03:49A third policeman walked toward me and asked if I was okay.
03:53The woman was standing with him.
03:54I guess she was the one who flagged them down.
03:57I told the policeman everything that happened,
03:59including the part about how that woman had harassed me and left me for dead.
04:02The cop turned toward her and asked if that was true.
04:05Her face got really red and she said,
04:08That bitch is lying! I'm the hero!
04:10Without saying anything,
04:11I grabbed her phone off the ground and handed it to the policeman.
04:14It was still recording.
04:16She tried to grab it out of my hands, but the officer held her off.
04:19I told him to watch the whole video.
04:21This all happened a few weeks ago.
04:23Since then, I've finished my community service.
04:25The man who attacked me is in jail awaiting trial.
04:28And I'm not sure what's going to happen to the woman,
04:30but she's already been charged with harassment and endangerment.
04:33I'm lucky to be alive,
04:34and I'm confident that justice will be served for both of them.
04:38After all,
04:39not every psycho wears a mask.
Comments