They say truth is often stranger than fiction and that was certainly the case in early February at a Target store in Paramus. A loose Target ball, those gigantic red cement balls outside of Target stores, came loose and rolled through the parking lot, slamming into one woman’s car and wreaking havoc: to the tune of $3,500.
The woman was driving her Nissan Rogue in the store’s parking lot when the two-ton ball rolled into the side of her vehicle, caving it in and leaving a huge red mark. The ball would have kept causing damage were it not for a man and his dog, who jumped out of their vehicle to stop the runaway ball. They were joined by another person and the three successfully put it back in place, where a store employee placed a cone near it.
The big box retailer is saying they won’t pay for the damage caused to the woman’s SUV but would make sure all of their red balls were secure. A video shows how the ball got loose: a pickup truck grazed it and pulled it off, leaving the ball to roll through the lot.
The woman whose car was hit is going to take the case to small claims court.
An attorney could conduct his or her own investigation into the accident to get to the truth. The balls are meant to keep cars from the front of the store. But, was it secure enough if a bump could knock it off its bollard? Was it installed correctly? Had there been any other incidents that the store knew about? The answers to these questions could be the key to getting compensation.
Source: patch.com, “2-Ton Target Ball Gets Loose In NJ Parking Lot,” Daniel Hubbard, February 3, 2017