Giant Target Ball Causes $3,500 Worth Of Damage In A Parking Lot

Target

You know those giant red balls that sitĀ outside of Target stores? Well, apparently they weigh about two tons each, and can cause a heck of a lot of damage when knocked loose. Why do we bring this up? Because this happened, a woman’s car got damaged, and Target is refusing to pay.

Last week, a video went viral of a pickup truck dislodging one of those now-infamous red balls outside of a Target in Paramus, New Jersey. The ball rolled across the parking lot, striking one woman’s car before being stopped by one brave man (and his equally brave dog).

The entire incident was captured by surveillance cameras that clearly show the truck bumping into the ball before it starts on its “Indiana Jones”-esque path of destruction. Unfortunately, the video quality wasn’t high enough to catch the license plate on the pickup truck.

According to news reports fromĀ ABC7, the red ball caused $3,500 worth of damage to Eileen Grady’s car, which was struck after the ball was dislodged.

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“All of sudden I hear this crash and a really loud noise,ā€ Grady said in an interview with the station. The side of Grady’s car was deeply dented and scratched… with bright red paint.

Adding insult to injury, Target’s insurance company has so far refused to pay for the damage done to Grady’s car. But she says she’ll see them in small claims court.

“I said, ‘I don’t own the big red ball, Target does,'”Ā Grady told ABC7. Despite the damning video, Target spokesperson Erika Winkels has released a statement from the company thatĀ asserts the the bollards have since been checked.

“As part of our commitment to guest safety, Target has procedures, policies and trainings in place to ensure that our stores are safe places to shop and work. This includes maintenance as needed on the bollards outside our stores,” the statement reads. “As mentioned previously, we are aware of this incident, and we will handle all communication directly with the guest in question. I can confirm that, since our original statement was provided on 1/26, a vendor has checked all bollards at the store.”

According to ABC7, Target’s argument is that the driver of the pickup truck is liable. For Grady, then, it may be a matter of trying to track down that truck.

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Jessica Suss

An aspiring food and health writer, native Chicagoan, and nut butter enthusiast. Jessica is also the creator of BiteMeBlog, but don't call her a foodie More.

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