A liquor store owner was the latest victim in lawless New York City after an alleged accidental discharge saw him facing harsher charges than “frequent flier thieves.”
(Video: PIX11)
Monday at the Franja Wine and Liquors store in Ridgewood, Queens, 53-year-old owner Francisco Valerio could be seen alongside one of his brothers forcibly showing two alleged shoplifters the door after spotting the suspects secreting bottles off a shelf.
When the heated exchange led to blows at the doorway, concealed carry holder Valerio could be seen with a gun in hand taking a swing at 20-year-old Kevin Pullatasi, sending the shoplifting suspect to surgery and landing himself with multiple charges and a potential seven-year prison sentence.
“We’ve been dealing with these guys all the time and all the time we ask them to leave. But this time was different,” said the owner’s brother Miguel Valerio at a press conference Wednesday night.
“I grabbed my gun to hit him…I didn’t realize that he got shot,” court documents cited the store owner as explaining after the incident where Pullatasi and his alleged accomplice, Edwin Poaquiza, 20, were seen getting shoved out of the building by the Valerio brothers before the one suspect dropped his bag in the middle of an exchange of words, charged the door and wound up getting shot during the altercation.
The wound to the abdomen left the shoplifting suspect still hospitalized as of Wednesday after undergoing surgery to remove bullet fragments.
Like the self-defense instance of bodega clerk Jose Alba or endeavoring to protect others as former U.S. Marine Daniel Penny was described to have done on a NYC subway, Gotham’s soft-on-crime environment has repeatedly found those standing up for themselves and others facing criminal charges.
At Wednesday’s press conference, United Bodegas of America founder Fernando Mateo decried the state of the city and said, “We are now going to defend ourselves because we’re tired of being taken advantage of.”
A statement from the union expressed, “UBA has been in touch with the Valerio family and will support Francisco Valerio in this case. Valerio who is 53, married 30 years, father of 2, no criminal record was arraigned, charged with Reckless Endangerment & freed without bail last night. The video tape shows Valerio did not intentionally discharge his weapon.”
“Frequent flier thieves must be stopped, we have the right to defend ourselves, our businesses and our communities,” he told Fox News Digital. “District attorneys must stop prosecuting victims and charging criminals when they commit crimes.”
In her own emotional outpouring at the press conference, the shop owner’s wife, Jael Valerio, could be heard saying, “If he has to go to jail, I don’t know what the kids are gonna do.”
Meanwhile, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz (D) released her own statement that asserted, “As alleged, brazen thieves stole merchandise from a neighborhood liquor shop. After the store was targeted by these shoplifters, the stolen merchandise was recovered and the two men were escorted out of the store. 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.
For the alleged shoplifters, that meant petit larceny charges leading to up to 364 days in jail and up to a $1,000 fine.
For Valerio, who was released without bail after his arraignment Tuesday, charges included first-degree reckless endangerment, second- and third-degree assault, and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon.
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Author: Kevin Haggerty
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