Burrola said the store’s policy prevented him from physically engaging with the shoplifters.
A King Soopers employee in Colorado was fired after he filmed three men stealing $500 worth of laundry detergent.
Santino Burrola, a former military police officer, filmed the three shoplifters stealing the items on Father’s Day June 18 around 6:40 p.m.
The video shows three men in a parking lot hastily transferring laundry detergent into a vehicle. Burrola approaches the vehicle with his phone recording, playfully taunting the thieves.
“Look at them stealing,” he says off-camera. “Really bro? You gotta resort to this? Economy’s not that bad.”
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A man hastily transfer stolen items into a vehicle. (Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office / Fox News)
The shoplifters hop in the car and start to drive away. Burrola manages to pull off the aluminum foil covering the license plate. At no point does Burrola physically engage with the shoppers.
The now-viral video has been shared by the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office and rapper Snoop Dogg, who has more than 80 million followers on Instagram.
Burrola was fired from his job for supposedly violating the store’s policies against chasing after thieves or intervening in a theft.
King Soopers, which is a subsidy of the Kroger Company, told CBS Colorado it has “security measures in place to help prevent crime and deescalate such confrontations to minimize the risk to our associates.”
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“While we are unable to comment on personnel matters, we value our hardworking associates and their return home,” the company said.
Burrola posted an impromptu “press conference” on his TikTok account in which he provided both the questions and the answers.
Burrola said his employment with King Soopers limited his ability to physically engage with the shoplifters. He added that race played no part in his motivation to record the shoplifters.
The employee peeled off aluminum foil covering the license plate before the thieves drove away. (Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office / Fox News)
“I didn’t see color when I confronted them. I’d seen criminals. White, black, brown, purple, It didn’t matter. A crime was being committed and wrong is wrong and a crime is a crime,” Burrola said in an expletive-laden TikTok post.
“And for those of you that are like, ‘mind your business,’ let me tell you something: If something is happening right in front of me, I’m going to make it my business,” Burrola said.
A GoFundMe account has been set up by Burrola’s cousin to help him with his expenses and legal fees. According to the page, Burrola was not given severance pay and has put on hold plans to move to Florida to be closer to his family.
Meanwhile, the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office has identified and arrested the getaway driver: 32-year-old Jorge Pantoja. He’s been charged with theft/shoplifting – a class 2 misdemeanor. The other two participants remain at large.
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Investigators located the registered owner of the vehicle who alleged to have loaned the car to “a friend.” The driver was contacted, arrested, and told deputies he picked up two other men at the Light Rail station at I-25 and Belleview and “offered them an opportunity to make some money.”
FOX Business has reached out to King Soopers for further comment but has not yet heard back.
