When Gavin Newsom saw brazen Target shoplifting, an employee blamed him

California Gov. Gavin Newsom spilled Wednesday that he’d witnessed Target shoplifting with his own eyes when checking out.

But when Newsom asked a Target worker to stop the shoplifter, the worker blamed the governor without realizing at first that the governor himself was standing right in front of her.

Newsom recalled the exchange during a Zoom press conference call about Proposition 1—aka Treatment Not Tents—a mental health ballot measure going before voters March 5.

“‘We don’t stop them because of the governor,”’ Newsom said the worker told him. “I was like, ‘Why am I spending $380, and everyone can walk the hell right out?’”

The worker went on to say that “there’s no accountability,” according to Newsom’s recollection of the chat.

Newsom said he told the employee that California’s $950 threshold for grand theft established by Prop. 47 is the 10th toughest threshold in the U.S. before the worker did a double take and recognized him and asked if she could take a picture with him. Newsom was not the governor when Prop. 47 was signed into law in 2014.

Newsom said he didn’t want to take a picture but instead wanted to speak to a manager. The location of the Target store and the date of the incident were not revealed on the Zoom call.

Shoplifting is a huge problem in California. In San Francisco, stores including Target lock up products ranging from laundry detergent to toothpaste and even chewing gum.

The San Francisco Police Department has also started retail “blitz” operations where officers conduct undercover enforcement operations at local stores targeted by thieves. During one blitz operation in October, thieves brought a wagon and a baby to a Walgreens store.