Employee charged in connection with camera found in bathroom of Richland Target

Jun. 16—An employee at the Target store in Richland Township has been charged in connection with an April incident in which a camera was found hidden in a public restroom at the store.

Northern Regional Police have charged Killian Jamal Redman, 28, of Pittsburgh, with tampering with evidence, which is a misdemeanor. They were not able to arrest him on more serious charges, as they have no proof of whether he placed the camera in the unisex bathroom in the rear of the store.

The camera was disguised to look like a USB charger.

Chief John Sicilia said an employee at the Route 8 store discovered the camera April 26. As the employee was talking about it with several other workers, Redman took it and removed the SD card (the chip that contains the digital information). He then handed the camera back.

Following the incident, a company spokesman said the camera was turned over to a store leader who immediately called police.

But Sicilia said Wednesday that his officers were not notified until later in the evening on the day it was discovered and that the incident was reported by the spouse of an employee, not store officials.

Store management declined to turn the camera over the day the incident occurred but police were able to confiscate the recording device the following day, the chief said.

"The company was initially uncooperative, so we returned and were prepared to obtain a search warrant, but they turned the device over to us," Sicilia said.

Detectives also were able to interview witnesses, and the company provided surveillance video to support the charges that were filed.

A search warrant was obtained for Redman's home but the SD card was not recovered. The device has no internal memory storage.

"I think that if the store called us immediately, we might have had a chance to recover the evidence," Sicilia said. "But we can't prove that he put the camera in the bathroom, and we don't know what was recorded on the SD card."

Target spokesman Brian Harper-Tibaldo said in an email that Redman still is employed at the store and that "Target's top priority is the safety of our team members and guests.

"We've provided the North Regional Police Department with everything that they've requested for their investigation, and will continue to do so," he said. "We have no tolerance for this kind of activity in our stores."

Redman faces a preliminary hearing July 7 before West Deer District Judge Tom Swan.

Tony LaRussa is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tony at 724-772-6368, tlarussa@triblive.com or via Twitter .