King Sooper’s Grocery store security agent fired for “interfering with shoplifters”
Denver CO July 9, 2023
It was a typical shift for King Soopers security employee Santino Burrola, when he was alerted to a theft that was in progres.
“Sure enough when I looked there was a guy already half-headed out with a cart full of laundry detergent scent boosters what have you,” said Burrola.
He pulled out his phone and followed the men outside.
“My first instinct was to record,” said Burrola.
Santino Burrola thought he was following the rules.
The former military police officer pulled out his Samsung Galaxy S22 phone and started filming as he followed the shoplifters out to the parking lot.
Following the man and a second suspect out to the parking lot, Burrola recorded the pair hastily loading the haul into a black Chevrolet Trax, where a third man was waiting in the driver’s seat.
When one of the men closed the hatchback, Burrola noticed the license plate was covered with a piece of aluminum foil, which he gently plucked off, revealing the plate number.
Burrola then uploaded the video to TikTok on Father’s Day. It quickly went viral on that platform as well as Instagram and Reddit. The original video now has more than 1.5 million views and was even shared by hip-hop artist Snoop Dogg.
The foil was the “only thing I could snatch without losing my job,” Burrola said in a comment on his TikTok post.
His employer saw it differently, however.
As it happens, King Soopers’ parent company, Kroger, has a policy against engaging or interfering with shoplifters.
Burrola told the Denver CBS affiliate he was suspended when he arrived for his next shift and fired the following week.
“I and the union rep sat down with King Soopers and they recommended termination and so I got fired that day,” Burrola said.
A spokesperson for King Soopers said they can not comment on personnel issues.
“All I did was just record criminals and reveal them!” he added, saying that he believes he did the right thing. “I would never let any criminal conduct slide, especially when it’s happening right in front of me,” he said.
Burrola’s footage has yielded results, according to the Arapahoe County Sheriff, which issued a statement identifying the driver as 32-year-old Jorge Pantoja, who has been arrested, and the two accomplices as Robert and Bugsy, who remain at large.
According to the Sheriff’s statement, Pantoja told investigators he borrowed the car from a friend before picking up Robert and Bugsy from a nearby light-rail station telling them he had an “opportunity to make some money.”
The statement estimates the value of the stolen merchandise was $400-$500.
Experts say household goods, like the detergent in this incident, are in fact more targeted for theft than high-dollar-value luxury items like jewelry or handbags, often because such essentials are relatively unguarded and are easily sold for cash.
Still many retailers, like Lululemon, say they have a zero-tolerance policy for employees engaging with thieves in any way — including following suspects out of the store.
“We put the safety of our team, of our guests, front and center. It’s only merchandise,” Lululemon CEO Calvin McDonald told CNBC after two workers in Georgia were fired for pursuing a trio of repeat shoplifters in a similarly viral incident.
Burrola’s cousin, meanwhile, has launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise funds to cover Burrola’s lost earnings, help with legal fees, and facilitate a planned move to Florida. Neither Burrola nor his cousin responded to Insider’s requests for comment.
“I hope this changes the policy,” Burrola told CBS regarding Kroger’s stance, “and gives power back to retail workers like myself.”
