|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
SIMI VALLEY, Calif. (BFMG) — A California man is accused of walking into a Target store and randomly attacking shoppers, choking a woman at a checkout counter “until she was almost dead” before going after others, including a teenager, authorities and witnesses said.
Police said Rejean Tabor entered the Simi Valley Target around 6 p.m. on June 17 and immediately grabbed a female customer standing at a checkout, putting his hands around her neck and choking her. Store loss prevention staff and several bystanders rushed to help, but Tabor allegedly turned on them, attacking multiple people, including a juvenile, according to a news release from the Simi Valley Police Department.
Cellphone video recorded inside the store shows a chaotic scene as several customers struggle with the suspect. Witness Andy Garbe told local media he saw “one lady on the guy’s back, and then him just choking out another lady,” describing Tabor as having “the most bloodshot, demon eyes” and saying he believed the man was under the influence of something. In the video, one female bystander can be heard saying the victim “was almost dead” from being choked.
Garbe said the woman later told them she had tried to scream but couldn’t because of the force of the attack. Police said it was later determined that she did not know Tabor and appeared to have been randomly targeted.
After the initial attack at the front of the store, Tabor allegedly moved toward the grocery and produce area, where he is accused of assaulting a 16-year-old boy who had his back turned and “had no idea” he was about to be attacked, according to witnesses.
As the assaults unfolded, Target employees initiated an emergency evacuation, ushering customers out of the building while calling 911. Officers arrived and went into the store, where they found Tabor throwing items in the grocery section. Police said he was taken into custody without further incident.
Several customers, including the 16-year-old boy, suffered minor injuries and were treated and released at the scene. The woman who was choked was taken by family members to a local hospital and was reported to be in stable condition.
Investigators said Tabor and the initial victim were strangers and that the attack appeared unprovoked. He was booked into the Ventura County Main Jail on suspicion of attempted murder, burglary, assault, battery and cruelty or unjustifiable pain to a minor.
According to local reports, Tabor had been released from custody less than 48 hours earlier after a previous arrest in March for indecent exposure and assaulting an officer. He was reportedly on probation at the time of the Target incident.
Witnesses later told reporters that officers and bystanders alike said the woman might have died if people in the store had not intervened when they did.
