A liquor store owner is facing charges after he accidentally shot a robber he was pistol-whipping during a wild brawl inside his Queens store, police said Tuesday.
Francisco Valerio, 53, was arrested for reckless endangerment for allegedly firing off a round during his struggle with two crooks inside Franja Wines and Liquors in Ridgewood about 7:45 p.m. Monday.
The store owner, who has a valid license for the pistol, was fighting off the robbers when he struck one of them with the gun inside the store on Wyckoff Ave. near Putnam Ave., a police source said. A shot went off, hitting one of the crooks in the stomach.
The conflict began a few minutes earlier when Edwin Poaquiza and Kevin Pullutasi, both 20, entered the store and tried to swipe some liquor bottles, cops said. Valerio stopped them and booted them out of the store, cops said.
But the duo returned a few minutes later and allegedly attacked Valerio. The store owner grabbed his pistol as he fought the two men off and errantly fired off a shot, striking Pullutasi in the stomach, cops said.
The wounded Pullutasi was arrested at the scene, along with Valerio. Poaquiza ran off but was nabbed about a block away.
Medics took Pullutasi to Elmhurst Hospital, where he is expected to recover. Cops charged the two accused crooks with robbery, assault and menacing.
All three men were awaiting arraignment in Queens Criminal Court Tuesday.
On May 7, a store clerk at a Queens bodega stabbed 21-year-old Dylan Marino to death in a confrontation over a stolen beer, cops said. The 21-year-old bodega worker was taken into custody and released that evening without charges. Members of a city bodega organization have claimed the worker acted in self-defense.
