Supporters are pushing the district attorney to drop charges against a liquor store owner who shot a would-be thief last week — claiming the “unjust” rap threatens “his livelihood and freedom.”
A Change.org petition — which has received about 1,900 signatures since it was launched on Saturday — called merchant-turned-suspect Franisco Valerio, 53, a “beloved member of our Ridgewood and Brooklyn community.
“If these charges are not dropped, he will stand trial, lose his business and potentially go to jail,” Jana Vargas-Lora, the petition’s organizer, wrote. “We need 1,000 signatures to show our support and ask for these charges to be dismissed.”
There’s no indication Queens DA Melinda Katz will back off the charges. “
We will follow the evidence where it leads us and litigate this case, and every other, in a court of law,” a spokesperson for Katz told The Post.
Valerio, a father of two, is facing seven years in prison after shooting Kevin Pullutasi, 20, who along with an accomplice tried to steal bottles of liquor at Franja Wines and Liquors in Ridgewood on Monday night.
Valerio and his brother, Luis, grabbed the pair after they allegedly caught the sticky-fingered duo slipping the bottles under their jackets, according to cops and store surveillance footage.
The encounter spilled onto the Wyckoff Avenue pavement, and Pullatasi attacked the brothers just before Valerio stepped outside and took a wild swing with his right hand — which held a handgun.
The pistol went off — and the bullet struck Pullatasi, according to a statement from the Queens District Attorney’s Office.
Authorities rushed him to Elmhurst Hospital Center, where he was listed in stable condition.
All three face charges — but Valerio’s two counts of assault are by far the most serious.
Many have come to Valerio’s defense in the days following the bloody confrontation.
Neighbors have told The Post that Valerio and his brother are upstanding members of the community who take care of their customers and run a good business.
Representatives for the United Bodegas of America claimed Pullutasi and Paiquiza had tried to rob Valerio’s store “numerous times.”
“We are threatened, robbed, assaulted and looted every day, and the bad guys get away with it,” group President Radahmes Rodriguez said. “They are freed without bail and nothing ever happens to them. When we fight back, we are jailed and in some cases prosecuted. This must stop.”
“We are once again asking DA Melinda Katz to drop the charges,” added UBA spokesman Fernando Mateo spokesman. “Mr. Valerio is an honorable man in society, this should not change his life.”
Many who signed the petition agreed.
“This man should not go to jail. He was protecting his store and himself,” one person wrote. “This is not right. Are the two who try to steal going to jail, or just getting a slap on the wrist? This is so unfair. You can’t even protect yourself anymore in this country.”
“Frank is a good man!” wrote another.
A third said he signed because Valerio is a “good, hard worker.”
“I know him for a long time, and I know his family,” the man wrote. “God bless him.”
Valerio’s is due back in court on July 29.
