Grocery Store Employee Fired For Recording Thieves Stealing

A grocery store clerk was fired after videotaping three guys stealing around $500 worth of laundry detergent from the store on Father’s Day in Colorado, USA.

When King Soopers employee Santino Burrola was alerted to a theft in process at the grocery store, the first thing he did was grab out his phone and record it.

“When I looked there was already a guy halfway headed out with a food cart full of laundry detergents and scent boosters and what have you,” Burrola told CBS Colorado. “My first instinct, record.”

The three burglars hurried to load up a black Chevy Trax as Burrola, a former military police officer, went out of the store. One opened the doors, another threw a basket full of goods into the back seat, and a third struggled to unload the full shopping cart.

“Really bro you got to resort to this? The economy isn’t that bad,” Burrola could be heard in the now-viral video shared by the Arapahoe Sheriff’s Office.

“Better gettin while the gettin’s good,” Burrola jokes towards the men.

As the three men attempted to flee from the parking lot, the getaway driver was a little faster than the two still outside the car, who had trouble getting into the vehicle.

That allowed Burrola to remove a sheet of tin foil covering the license plate.

After the men got into the car and left the area Burrola called the police, sharing the video to social media.

“So I posted it on TikTok hoping that somebody would recognize them,” said Burrola about the video that was seen 1.5 million times.

“Investigators have already identified and arrested the driver, Jorge Pantoja, 32, the man in the green shirt,” the Arrapahoe Sherriff’s Office said in a statement. “Pantoja is currently in custody at the Adams County Detention Facility on unrelated felony charges. He has also been charged with Theft/Shoplifting, a Class 2 Misdemeanor.”

Police reached the car’s registered owner, who had leased it to a friend, during the course of their inquiry, and the driver was later located.

“The driver was then contacted, arrested, and stated he picked up two other males at the Light Rail station at I-25 and Belleview and offered them an opportunity to make some money. The men told the driver their names were Robert and Bugsy.”

Burrola discovered he had been suspended and dismissed a week later when he went back to the store for his next shift.

“Me and the union rep sat down with them and they recommended termination,” Burrola said. “I would never let any criminal conduct slide especially when it’s happening right in front of me.”

According to Burrola, all he was doing was attempting to assist the community; he neither broke any rules nor touched any thieves.

“Did I feel that I overstepped boundaries? Not really because I didn’t physically touch them or alter their shoplifting in any way, I just revealed the license plate to help the community to be aware, the police be aware and to help better catch them,” Burrola told 9News.