(HorizonPost.com) – A supermarket employee in Colorado was fired for recording three men stealing around $500 in laundry detergent on Father’s Day, the New York Post reported.
King Soopers employee Santino Burrola told CBS Colorado that after he was alerted to the theft, he decided to pull out his smartphone and record the thieves.
Burrola, a former police officer in the military, followed the men out of the store and filmed them loading the stolen items into a black Chevy Trax.
In the video he later posted on TikTok, Burrola’s running commentary can be heard as the three men load up the vehicle and attempt to leave the parking lot. But the driver started away before the two other men were able to get into the vehicle, giving Burrola a chance to pull the sheet of foil off of the license plate. Burrola then called the police.
But when he returned to work for his next shift, Burrola discovered that he had been suspended. A week later, Burrola and his union rep met with the store’s management who recommended he be fired.
Burrola told 9News that he didn’t lay a hand on the three men and broke no store rules by filming the theft. He said all he did was reveal the hidden license plate which helped the police catch the suspects.
According to the Arapahoe Sheriff’s Office, the driver of the vehicle, 32-year-old Jorge Pantoja was arrested and is being held at the Adams County Detention Center on “unrelated felony charges.” He was also charged with a Class 2 misdemeanor for the shoplifting incident, according to the sheriff’s office.
The sheriff’s office is still looking for the two other men.
Pantoja told investigators that he picked up the other two men at the Light Rail station at Belleview and I25 with the offer of making some money, according to the sheriff’s office.
Pantoja claimed that the men said their names were Bugsy and Robert.
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