Freed 48 Hours—Choke Attack at Target

A repeat offender walked into a California Target store and choked a random woman nearly to death — just two days after being let out of jail.

Story Highlights

Rejean Tabor, 34, allegedly walked into a Simi Valley Target on June 17, 2026, and began choking a woman he had never met.
Tabor had been released from custody just two days earlier after prior arrests for indecent exposure and assaulting a police officer.
Documents show Tabor had been arrested at least six times in the past two years.
Brave bystanders, including a father and his teenage son, physically pulled Tabor off the victim — and were injured doing so.

Random Attack Caught on Camera

On Wednesday evening, June 17, 2026, around 6 p.m., Rejean Tabor walked into a Target store on Tierra Rejada Road in Simi Valley, California. Police say he randomly picked out a woman in the checkout line and began choking her. Cellphone video captured the attack. A witness can be heard yelling, “He was choking her, she was almost dead, I don’t know that guy!” The footage shows bystanders rushing in to pull Tabor off the victim.

After bystanders pulled Tabor away from the first victim, he moved toward the produce section and attacked a 16-year-old boy. A father named Andy Garvey had followed Tabor closely and helped stop the second attack. Garvey’s own teenage son was also injured in the struggle. At least two women were pushed away as they tried to help. Store employees worked to evacuate shoppers before police arrived and took Tabor into custody.

A Dangerous Man Who Should Not Have Been Free

Tabor had been released from jail just two days before the attack. He had been arrested back in March for indecent exposure and for assaulting a police officer. Records show he had been arrested at least six times in the past two years. Despite that history, the system let him walk. No official explanation has been released by Ventura County probation authorities about why he was freed so quickly.

The first victim was taken to a hospital by family friends and is reported to be recovering. Tabor now faces serious charges including attempted murder, assault, battery, burglary, and causing unnecessary suffering to a minor. Target confirmed it has security footage of the incident. The store was evacuated during the chaos and later secured after police made the arrest.

The System Failed — Again

This attack is a textbook example of what happens when the justice system treats repeat offenders with a revolving door. Tabor had a long arrest record, yet he was back on the street within 48 hours of his last release. The people of Simi Valley — ordinary shoppers on a Wednesday evening — paid the price for that failure. The victim nearly lost her life in a checkout line. That is not acceptable.

A man is in custody following a violent and random attack inside a Target store in Simi Valley that was caught on video.

Officers responded after a caller reported that a man had entered the store and immediately began choking a woman at a checkout counter.… pic.twitter.com/2eTEMeroGp

— ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7) June 19, 2026

The good news is that everyday Americans stepped up when the system did not. The bystanders who risked their own safety to save a stranger are the real story here. They did what needed to be done. But they should never have been put in that position. Californians deserve a justice system that keeps dangerous repeat offenders locked up — not one that releases them to prey on innocent shoppers two days later.