Francisco Valerio, 53, and his brother Luis allegedly caught two thieves trying to shoplift bottles of liquor into their jackets inside Franja Wines and Liquors in the Ridgewood neighborhood of the Queens borough. Surveillance footage released by the United Bodegas of America showed the Valerios grabbing Kevin Pullutasi and Edwin Paiquiza – both 20 – then shoving them toward the door as another customer looked on.
Luis escorted the two shoplifters outside the store premises and onto the sidewalk. Pullutasi then ran toward the door, kicking and throwing punches at Francisco. The 53-year-old then drew his firearm and pistol-whipped the attacker.
However, the gun accidentally went off and Pullatasi suffered a gunshot wound to his abdomen. The shopkeeper claimed he accidentally fired a shot while trying to hit the shoplifter, who attacked unprovoked in the first place.
Despite the clear circumstance of Francisco merely defending himself and his business, Queens District Attorney (DA) Melinda Katz is seeking felony charges against him. This, despite the 53-year-old father of two having a concealed carry permit and a spotless criminal record.
"Two crimes resulted in three people being charged," said Katz, a Democrat cut from the same cloth as progressive Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg. "The store owner was physically attacked by one of them. Unfortunately, as alleged, that led to a reckless shooting by the store owner on a public street in broad daylight."
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The store owner has not been allowed to post bail, and is set to return to court. Meanwhile, the 20-year-old shoplifter is expected to recover from his injury. Pullutasi will face assault and petit larceny charges, with lesser punishment compared to the one handed down to the business owner.
Upside-down justice in the Big Apple
While Katz is seeking a felony conviction, some critics want the charges against Francisco dropped entirely. They argue that the shooting was an accident and the shopkeeper was only acting in self-defense. (Related: RIGGED: Gun Violence Archive designates non-violent incidents as "gun violence.")
"It's all based through the eyes of the person who was involved. Only Frank knows the circumstances that he was facing," family friend Johnny Nunez said. "We have one crime, one crime. They were stealing. Frank did not commit a crime."
A felony conviction would mean Francisco would lose his business and be sent to prison for years. Jael, his wife of 30 years, called that outcome unthinkable.
"These few days have been very, very hard," she shared. "You would think somebody that 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 over that? I don't know what to say."
"This type of upside-down 'justice' system is one major reason millions of Americans are fleeing blue cities being intentionally destroyed by Democrat policies," InfoWars shared.
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