Taylor man arrested after squirting lotion on women at Target without them knowing

TAYLOR, Mich. (FOX 2) - Two women inside a Target were targeted when they say a man walked up and squirted lotion on their backsides without them knowing.

Security footage captures lotion incident

Big picture view:

The Wayne County Prosecutor's Office says the evidence they have so far does not meet the criteria for criminal sexual conduct charges. 

The suspect was arrested in August by Taylor police but has since been released.

Security footage from inside the Target near Southland Mall is grainy, but viewers can see the suspect pull out lotion from his cart and squirt on one woman. Then he strikes again minutes later in the toy aisle, this time talking with Shellee Hatch from Taylor. 

In the footage, he seemingly plays dumb and tells her that she has something on her butt. 

"After I said ‘Oh my gosh’ then he goes like this and wipes it off my butt, and I’m like, oh okay, like that, and I said thanks again, and he said wait a minute, you have more, and he goes like this again, and then I’m like thank you and walked away," Hatch said.

More than one lotion incidents in Metro Detroit?

Local perspective:

FOX 2 did some digging and this was apparently not the first time this has happened in Southeast Michigan.

The first was at a Kroger in Farmington Hills in 2024, where FOX 2 reported then that a 20-year-old Southfield man was charged with criminal sexual conduct. Then in April, Ian Matthew Johnson was charged. Police say he had multiple victims between Troy and Auburn Hills at various stores.

What they're saying:

The Wayne County Prosecutor's Office says the incident in Taylor did not meet their criteria of criminal sexual conduct, but Taylor police say they are looking to see if he could be charged in the city, and they think there are more victims. 

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