‘Starsky & Hutch’ Walmart worker fired after he gets stabbed trying to stop shoplifter
A former Walmart worker who was part of a theft-busting duo known as “Starsky & Hutch’’ was stabbed by a suspected shoplifter — and says the company betrayed him by firing him afterward.
John Zalesky, 67, of Aurora, Colo., told The Post that he was so good at spotting shifty thieves during his 10-month tenure at a store in nearby Centennial that he and another eagle-eyed cashier nicknamed themselves after the TV crime-fighting duo — and Walmart even hailed him once with an award.
“In 10 months, I stopped well over 100 people,” Zalesky said recently, adding that his work as a front-end associate probably saved the company thousands of dollars in inventory “shrinkage,” a big deal for a relatively small store that he estimated lost $500,000 to theft last year.
“There were days we had eight, nine people in one eight-hour shift,” he said of shoplifters. “I was a valuable asset to [the store]. If I see somebody stealing, I’m gonna’ do everything I can to stop them.”
The company even recognized him for his efforts, awarding Zalesky a glass “Shrink Buster of the Month” award in February.
But Walmart execs changed their tune after the Aug. 11 incident in which Zalesky, a former highway traffic controller and warehouse worker, was wounded while trying to protect his employer, which raked in $648 billion in revenue last year.
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His ordeal started that Sunday evening when his cashier counterpart quietly flagged a woman who was a well-known repeat shoplifter. Zalesky caught up to her at the front door and said he needed to see inside her bag.
“You got the receipt for this stuff?” he asked.
The woman didn’t bother to respond and instead bolted, Zalesky said.
“She wasn’t even denying it, she just took off,” he said. “And I thought, ‘You know what? I’ve had enough of this crap. I’m done with these people stealing, this one’s going to end it.’ So I actually chased her out to the car she was in, which was backed into a handicapped [spot] right outside the front doors.”
The woman hopped in the driver’s seat of the old silver Toyota sedan as a cohort — a short, shirtless man who probably weighed “105 pounds soaking wet” — moved to confront him, then changed his mind and got in the car, too.
Zalesky opened the door and went to grab the woman’s merchandise-laden purse — and that’s when the man stabbed him with a knife, leaving a small gash in his left forearm.
The male suspect tried to cut Zalesky again but missed. Then the driver hit the gas, and the outlaw couple fled.
Zalesky refused to go to the hospital and didn’t bother with stitches, even as co-workers fretted about the bloody wound. Instead, he cleaned it himself and had a pharmacist wrap it with gauze.
“It was probably three-quarters of an inch wide — nothing big,” Zalesky said of the cut. “I don’t worry too much about it. I mean, if it was serious, I’d have taken it more serious.”
The cops came and took their statements, and Zalesky was back at work the next morning.
But about a week later, he found out his troubles weren’t over.
The store’s assistant manager pulled him aside and reluctantly said the store was firing him for breaking a company policy that bars employees from following shoplifters out its doors.
“They said, ‘We just don’t have a choice, it comes from corporate,’ ” Zalesky said. “I was disgusted. Nobody had ever attempted to stop me from what I was doing before — hell, they were glad.
“They didn’t complain because it’s saving the company money and making the store look better because now your losses aren’t bad,” he continued. “They all knew I was real good … at detecting people stealing stuff.”
In a statement last week, a Walmart rep would say only that Zalesky’s situation was “unfortunate” and that the company wished him a quick recovery.
“We have trained associates to combat theft and how to follow our policies to ensure Walmart is a safe place to shop and work,” the representative said.
Police have been searching for the suspects, who cops described as in their 30s.
“The female has purple hair,” the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office said in an August Facebook post that also asked the public to call if they knew who the suspects were.
Meanwhile, Zalesky said getting fired was a bit of a relief — now he doesn’t have to deal with the nonsense that comes with retail, such as rude customers and sometimes violence.
He started a GoFundMe — which has raised about $1,600 — to help shore up his finances. And he’s taking a few weeks to figure out his next move.
But he’s still a little salty about his former employer’s decision.145
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“I’m sad I lost my job because I had some fantastic people that I worked with,” he said. “I looked to work there for 10 years, then hopefully retire and enjoy life. But you’re trying to do the right thing, and you get slapped for it. That’s what’s most perturbing about it.
“I was disappointed that with all the [things] I’ve done, this is how Walmart thanks you,” he continued.
“You save them thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars of merchandise being stolen. And you have one thing, with a little bitty stab wound, and you fire the guy for it?”
NYC liquor store owner faces 7 years in prison for shooting would-be robber — bodega group rallies to drop charges
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A Queens liquor store owner and father of two is facing seven years in prison after shooting a would-be thief who attacked him in a caught-on-camera clash — but some critics want the charges dropped.
Francisco Valerio, 53, and his brother Luis allegedly caught two sticky-fingered suspects trying to slip bottles of booze into their jackets inside Franja Wines and Liquors in Ridgewood at about 7:45 p.m. Monday, according to cops and store surveillance footage.
The Valerios grabbed Kevin Pullutasi and Edwin Paiquiza – both 20 – then shoved them towards the door as another customer looked on, the video released by a trade group showed.
But the fight didn’t end after they pushed the would-be thieves out the door.
Instead, the kerfuffle spilled onto the pavement on Wyckoff Avenue, where the brothers appeared to trade insults with the suspects.
As the would-be walked away from the store, one of the brothers leaned out the door and seemed to say something that sent Pullutasi into a rage, the video shows.
Pullatasi charged the door and traded punches and kicks with the men — just before Valerio stepped outside and took a wild swing with his right hand.
That’s when the gun in his hand went off, according to a statement from the Queens District Attorney’s Office.
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Pullutasi stumbled around after the shooting, then came to rest against a car parked on the road, the video showed.
Valerio walked over and seemed to try to help the wounded man, who remained by the car until the video cut out.
All three face charges — but Valerio’s two counts of assault are by far the most serious, and threaten to imprison him for up to seven years.
“Brazen thieves stole merchandise from a neighborhood liquor shop,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said in a statement.
“After the store was targeted by these shoplifters, the stolen merchandise was recovered, and the two men were escorted out of the store,” she continued. “At that point, the store owner was physically attacked by one of the men. Unfortunately, as alleged, that led to a reckless shooting by the store owner on a public street in broad daylight.
“All three of the defendants in this incident will have to answer charges against them,” she added.
Still, not everyone is happy Valerio got charged – including the United Bodegas of America, which said in a statement that Pullutasi and alleged accomplice Edwin Paiquiza had robbed Valerio’s store on Wyckoff Avenue “numerous times.”
“We are threatened, robbed, assaulted and looted every day, and the bad guys get away with it,” group President Radahmes Rodriguez said. “They are freed without bail and nothing ever happens to them. When we fight back, we are jailed and in some cases prosecuted. This must stop.”
“We are once again asking DA Melinda Katz to drop the charges,” added UBA spokesman Fernando Mateo spokesman. “Mr. Valerio is an honorable man in society, this should not change his life.”
The UBA held a press conference Wednesday evening in front of the store, where Valerio’s wife, Jael Valerio, tearfully urged Katz to “do the right thing.”
Jael described her husband as the “perfect father for my kids,” who are so torn up over the incident that they couldn’t attend the press conference.
“My husband always tries to do the right thing. He’s a good citizen. A good husband, son, sibling, an extraordinary father and he doesn’t deserve this,” said Jael.
“It’s very very hard. You would think that someone who is always doing the right thing by others, by his peers, by everybody. And then this small incident happens and he can lose his freedom,” Valerio’s distraught wife said.
Valerio was arraigned Tuesday night on charges of second and third-degree assault, reckless endangerment and weapons possession.
His next court date is July 29.
The two suspected thieves face their own legal complications from the incident — both men were charged with petit larceny for jacking the booze, the DA said.
Poaquiza – who faces a year in jail — will appear in court July 24.
Pullatasi remains hospitalized because of the gunshot wound but criminal charges against him are pending, Katz said.
Valerio’s other brother, Miguel, who wasn’t working at the time of the shooting, echoed claims that Pullutasi and Poaquiza are known to cause trouble at the liquor store.
“It’s been bad. We have been dealing with these guys all the time. And all the time we ask them to leave. This time was different,” Miguel said at Wednesday night’s press conference.
Meanwhile, neighbors expressed their shock that a street battle engulfed their typically quiet neighborhood.
“I saw the guy who got shot — he was on the ground,” said a 30-year-old woman named Renee, who works from home and lives nearby.
“He was on his left side holding his stomach, he was yelling in Spanish,” she continued. “I couldn’t understand what he was saying … the cops were working on him, they were looking for his wound.”
Police tried to keep him awake, but Pullatasi’s head began rolling back and forth as he lost consciousness, she said.
“He lifted his head up, and tried to get up,” Renee said. “But they had him laid back down on the ground. It was another couple of minutes before the ambulance got here.
“You could tell they were kids,” she added. “They didn’t have masks on, they weren’t wearing all black. It was a wild thing, kind of a bold thing to do at 7:45 p.m. But at the end of the day, it’s still scary.”
Renee said she’s never seen such a thing happen in the neighborhood, and believes this was a bizarre, one-off incident.
“We go in there to get a bottle of wine,” she said. “He makes me feel comfortable. I never felt weird going in there … they’re just two guys in their 50s. They keep to themselves, stay behind the Plexiglas.
“I feel bad for the owner,” she continued. “He has to live with this for the rest of his life, and it sucks.”
On Wednesday morning, a man working in the store who described himself as part of Valerio’s family said the boss is doing good, despite the circumstances.
“He’s good,” the man said. “I have not spoken to him since it happened. It’s a sensitive matter, it’s a family thing … I cannot comment.”
Russell Dickerson, a 56-year-old basketball coach and restaurant owner who frequents the liquor store, reacted in shock when he heard Valerio had been arrested.
“I’m sorry for them because they are good people,” Dickerson said.
“I’m praying everything works out for him – we talk all the time,” Dickerson continued. “I’m the reason he got his Labrador! I have four, he saw me with them, and he let me bring my dogs into the store. He likes them, and he got one.”
Dickerson said the shooting makes him worry for the neighborhood, which he’s lived in for seven years.117
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“There has never been a problem,” he said. “Now I come home, I see police tape, I see drama … I’m starting to get scared now. I want to be in a safe place … I got to relocate. I never saw this coming.”
Dickerson also agreed with the bodega association’s statement that Katz should drop the case again Valerio.
“I love those guys,” he said again, shaking his head. “I can’t say anything bad about them. They take care of their customers, and they run a good business.
“Those charges should be dropped.”
