Walmart employee says he was stabbed by alleged shoplifter, then fired

ARAPAHOE COUNTY, Colo. (KDVR) — A Walmart employee in Colorado says he was fired after trying to stop an alleged shoplifting suspect.

John Zalesky, formerly a front-end associate for Walmart, said that on Aug. 11, he questioned and then followed an alleged shoplifting suspect outside the Arapahoe County store.

Zalesky said he followed the woman to a car and tried to pick up her purse, which he suspected contained the alleged stolen goods, and was stabbed in the forearm by a man standing on the other side of the car.

“It stung,” Zalesky said. “I mean, it still stings from it.”

Zalesky, 68, said the man tried to stab him again before the two people jumped into the car -- described as an early 2000s silver Toyota sedan - and took off.

A week later, Zalesky said, he was told he was being terminated from his position.

"It was a corporate decision, I guess, that, you know, I violated the company policies by going outside after them," he said.

He said on his GoFundMe page: "Walmart fired me and never thought they would treat me like this after protecting their store."

However, Zalesky said he doesn't regret his actions.

"I was born in an era that you just don't do what these people are doing," he said. “When is enough enough?”

He added, “If I had the chance, I’d probably do it again."

Calls by Nexstar's KDVR to Walmart's corporate headquarters Wednesday were unsuccessful.