Chase-Down at Target

4:20 PM (forty minutes away from being done with my Saturday work shift) - I'm zoning out pushing carts waiting to get out of the hell hole some refer to as "Target."  Out of the corner of my eye I see a black male about twenty-five years old and 180 pounds staring me down.  I look back at him for a second, then I continue to push my carts past him into the store.  When I come back out he is joined by a friend with the same description.  They have a black bag with what they are claiming to be "fundraiser" candy inside of it.  Then it clicked in my head who they were.

One of the other cart attendants was telling me about how our boss had gotten into a confrontation with them last Friday about selling their "fundraiser" candy (which they had no proof for that they were helping out any organization) on Target property.  There were threats of calling the cop  After the confrontation they walked into the Babies R Us lot, and sold their candy there.  Once a couple minutes went by the two scumbags were back in the Target parking lot selling their candy.  The cart attendant on duty gave a heads-up to our boss that went back inside that the men were back.  Our boss called the cops, whom arrived in about ten minutes.  The only problem was the two ran away before the cops got a chance to talk to them.

Back to Saturday - I went inside, and gave my boss and our "Target cop" (this is in quotations because 99% of the time they are useless unless it is 4:59 AM on Black Friday and crazy people are fighting for TVs) a heads-up that the two did not learn their lesson.  This time the two were not fortunate enough to get a heads-up that cops might be headed their way.  After fifteen minutes went by a cop car pulled up, and proceded to question the men.  Then the cop went on to searching their clothes for anything suspicious.  I could not determine what was being said, but from what happened next I interpreted it was not what the two men wanted to hear.

One decided to make a dash for it.  While watching from the bottom of the Target parking lot it felt like everything was happening in slow-motion.  The black male that decided to run across the Babies R Us parking lot and the cop were running at the same speed, yet the now-criminal's head start kept them apart.  The cop proceded to pull his taser out, but whiffed on his attempt to zap the runner.  Then the "Target cop" (whom is black, ripped, and about twenty five as well) decided to join in on the chase.  

For the next couple minutes my vision of the chase was blocked, and I was left to ponder the outcome.  About three minutes later, I saw was the "Target cop" with his hand squeezing the back of criminal's shirt next to the cop walking back towards Target.

As the criminals were in the car they kept yelling slurs and threats at the "Target cop."  I was not able to hear most of it, but the highlight of what I did eavesdrop on was this quote: "This ain't the last time I'm gunna see you.  I'll be back again."  The "Target cop" shrugged and chuckled underneath his breath at them while the cops asked for his information to most likely put in the Orland Park newspaper.

I wondered why the two males were back again when I first realized who they were.  As I pushed carts past them I saw about one out of every three people give them business since they thought they were helping out a good cause.  In the end, all their scam did was entertain me during my last forty minutes of work, and give them a back-seat trip to the Orland Park Police Station.