Woman says she found camera in Potomac Yard Target dressing room

Woman says she found camera in Potomac Yard Target dressing room

A local woman is issuing a?warning to always be aware of your surroundings?for all of us?after she says she found a hidden camera in a Target fitting room. It?s a cautionary tale and could happen anywhere, really.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - A local woman is issuing a warning to always be aware of your surroundings—for all of us—after she says she found a hidden camera in a Target fitting room. 

It’s a cautionary tale and could happen anywhere, really. 

In this case, it happened at the Target store near Potomac Yard back on the afternoon of Friday, July 18.

What we know:

Tomecia Thorn was inside the store looking to buy some fall clothes.

She told FOX 5 that she headed to the fitting rooms and soon after stepping inside one of the rooms, second from the end on the right, she noticed a scrunchie up on top of one of the mirrors.

"I thought nothing of it at first because I'm thinking or maybe somebody lost it or left it here and then something threw me off because kind of like the glare on the camera here, it had just that and I happen to think what is that? So, curiously reached up—it's one of the ones that you can unzip and put money or Chapstick in and there was a camera inside of it," Thorn said. "So, I immediately gathered myself up and walked out and found the first store associate that I could and let them know what I found."

Thorn says the store associates closed the fitting rooms and called police. Alexandria police say she filed a police report. 

Dig deeper:

She says she then wrote a letter to Target, offering suggestions on how to make the fitting room experience safer for everybody.

"They sent me back a letter from customer relations, basically blowing me off, saying that this has been looked into and we will do better and we're going to send this to our security and our management team, which I just don't feel that was enough," Thorn said. "They did not have anybody back there at the desk, so I did recommend to them that if they’re going to keep a co-ed changing room then they need to have somebody planted at their desk at all times."

"I didn’t undress, thankfully, but it angers me for whoever came before me," she went on to say.

The bottom line from Thorn, who was a longtime military police officer—if you see something that looks odd, act on it.

A Target spokesperson released the following statement to FOX 5:

"The safety of our guests and team members is Target's top priority and we have robust procedures, policies and training in place to ensure that our stores are safe places to shop and work. We have no tolerance for this kind of behavior. As soon as we became aware of the situation, our team intervened and called law enforcement. We have provided the Alexandria Police Department with what's needed for their investigation and will direct additional questions to them at this time."