Supermarket Employee Films Thieves Stealing $500 Worth Of Laundry Detergent, Gets Fired For Doing So

Filming thieves at your workplace in an attempt to help authorities catch criminals is apparently a fireable offense these days. Just ask the now-former Colorado supermarket employee Santino Burrola, who was fired after filming a group of thieves who stole a car full of laundry detergent.

According to CBS Colorado, Burrola was alerted that there was a theft in progress at the King Soopers store and he immediately pulled out his phone to record the situation. The three thieves hurried to the parking lot with a cart full of laundry detergent before loading it into a Chevy Trax.

“Really bro you got to resort to this? The economy isn’t that bad,” Burrola said in the video shared by Arapahoe Sheriff's Office.

Two of the thieves wanted to exit the parking lot a bit quicker than the criminal wearing the glasses, who was seen doing most of the heavy lifting, literally. The driver of the vehicle nearly left him behind.

Burrola, who cleverly removed the foil covering the vehicle's license plate, called the police just after the thieves left the parking lot and later shared the video he captured to his TikTok hoping someone would recognize the individuals. Investigators were able to quickly identify and arrest the driver.

While Burrola was simply doing what any brave employee or civilian would do in filming a robbery in action, he arrived back at work for his next shift to learn that he had been suspended. Then, a week later, he was officially fired.

“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.”

The supermarket chain is a subsidy of Kroger, which apparently has a policy against any of its employees intervening during a theft. In other words, a store has a policy that bans its employees from trying to keep items from being stolen.

“We have security measures in place to help prevent crime and de-escalate such confrontations to minimize the risk to our associates. While we are unable to comment on personnel matters, we value our hardworking associates and their safe return home,” King Sooper said in a statement.

Losing your job over trying to stop thieves from stealing is becoming a bit of a norm. In May, Lululmeon fired two employees in Georgia for confronting masked robbers.