A long-distance trucker from Chicago stopped into a Target store in Vadnais Heights on Sunday and started exposing himself and touching other customers inappropriately, according to criminal charges.
A woman had been in the store on the 900 block of County Road E about 30 minutes when she noticed Aaron Cecil Patton Jr. following her, she told police.
At one point, as she stopped to take a picture of an item with her phone, Patton came up behind her and said, “I’m reaching for this.” When he lifted his arm, the woman felt Patton’s genitals on her back, according to criminal charges filed against him Tuesday.
As she turned to tell Patton that his conduct was inappropriate, she noticed the fly of his pants was unzipped and his genitals exposed, the complaint said.
The Ramsey County Attorney’s Office charged the 38-year-old with fifth-degree criminal sexual conduct.
Another customer complained to a store employee that Patton had repeatedly bumped up against her with his crotch.
When a deputy questioned him, Patton said other customers had been bumping into him, not the other way around.
The Illinois man was expected to make his first appearance on the charge sometime Tuesday afternoon.
No attorney was listed for him in court records.