Lawsuit: Target lied about child porn on customer’s phone

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The family of a deceased Oregon man has filed a $1 million lawsuit against Target contending a worker made up a false story about child pornography on the man’s mobile phone that led to his arrest and eventual death due to a heart attack caused by stress.

The Oregonian/OregonLive reports that the family of 43-year-old Jeffrey Buckmeyer filed the lawsuit last week in Multnomah County Circuit Court.

Authorities seized Buckmeyer’s electronic devices after Buckmeyer visited a Target store in Portland in July 2018 for help with his phone, and an employee reported seeing naked girls about 10 years old.

But authorities returned the phone and other electronic devices several months later after finding no such images. Buckmeyer died a few months after that, in April.

Target spokeswoman Danielle Schumann declined to comment.