Addressing the pornographic audio that went on — and on and on — throughout one of its stores last month, Target said that no employees were behind the steamy dialogue that echoed up and down the aisles, and that the company believes the bawdy broadcast originated from outside the building.
The string of moans and groans, laced with profanity, were heard during the morning of Oct. 14 at a Target store at the Westgate Center in San Jose, Calif. The erotic intrusion left customers bothered and bewildered for several minutes.
Molly Snyder, spokeswoman for the Minneapolis-based national retailer, said this week that "there is absolutely no indication that any team members were involved" and that the company believes the raunchy recording did not originate from inside the store.
Customer Gina Young recorded about 30 seconds of the audio and posted it to her Facebook page. Barely more than a day later, her video had been viewed more than 275,000 times. Young said the rogue audio lasted about 15 minutes.
"We've taken steps to prevent it from happening again," Snyder said this week, adding that an investigation continues into finding the source.
This was possibly the fourth time this year that pornographic audio invaded a Target in California. In July, much the same scene occurred at a Target in San Luis Obispo, 185 miles to the south. Police were called to the store, which was briefly evacuated.
Also, KTVU-TV in the Bay Area reported two other similar incidents in Target stores in California this year: on April 3 in Colma, south of San Francisco, and on Sept. 19 in Tulare, south of Fresno.
Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482
