Former Big Lots manager says he was fired after following shoplifter outside store in an attempt to help cops locate suspect



A former manager at a Big Lots store in the Rochester, New York, area said he was fired after following a shoplifter — who took a swing at an employee — outside the store and into the parking lot to help police locate the suspect.

Pat Guider told WHEC-TV during an interview at his Irondequoit home that he saw the shoplifter take a swing at his assistant manager during the May 10 incident: “What I saw is that he took a swing, like a punch at [the assistant manager],” Guider said while making an uppercut motion with a clenched fist.

'The good thing is we have a huge faith in God, a huge faith in God, and everything will work out. It’s just going to be difficult.'

Guider also told WHEC that’s the only reason he followed the shoplifter out of the store: “I let people who shoplift leave the store every day. Every day. We just put it in the system like they ask us to do. This was an assault. This wasn’t shoplifting. This was an assault.”

Guider told the station he followed the male at a distance through the parking lot of the store while relaying his location to 911 so police might catch the suspect.

The suspect got away — and Guider told WHEC he was fired over the incident.

“I thought I was doing the right thing,” he told the station.

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Guider told WHEC that on May 29 he was called to his district manager’s office and fired over the incident — despite 20 years with the company and a positive review in March.

The station in its interview with Guider asked him, “Do you think you did the right thing?”

Guider replied to WHEC, “I think I did the right and just thing. The right and just thing.”

The station said its reporter found no phone number for Big Lots' CEO or communication chief, so the reporter emailed the company on Tuesday — and then Wednesday and then on Friday — but Big Lots had not responded as of the story's publication.

WHEC said a poster in the Big Lots lunchroom warns employees to “never leave the store to pursue, detain, or identify a customer.”

The station's reporter asked labor lawyer Paul Keneally at Underberg & Kessler how Guider could have been fired for trying "to help police track down a shoplifter ... how does that happen?”

Keneally told WHEC "the company is probably considering the liability of any sort of interaction between the perpetrator and store employee.”

The attorney added to the station that likely explains why Big Lots has "a rule in place that the employees are not to do anything, and it’s unfortunate because it sounds like this person was trying to do the right thing."

Guider told WHEC, "I did not put myself in jeopardy. I did not put any shoppers in jeopardy."

Now without a job — and with two sons in college — Guider noted to the station that he and his wife are trying to figure out how to get health insurance. What's more, at age 62, Guider added to WHEC he's not sure how easy it will be to find another job.

“The good thing is we have a huge faith in God, a huge faith in God, and everything will work out," he noted to the station. "It’s just going to be difficult. It’s going to be difficult."

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BREAKING: Lee Zeldin attack suspect David Jakubonis arrested on federal charge



The suspect in the attack on Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.) was arrested on Saturday. According to multiple reports, David Jakubonis was arrested on a federal assault charge.

Jakubonis – the 43-year-old man accused of attacking Zeldin on stage during a campaign event on Thursday night at a VFW outside of Rochester, New York – was reportedly arrested on Saturday, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Western District of New York.

The Daily Mail and Fox News are reporting that Jakubonis was arrested and will make his first court appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Marion W. Payson on Saturday at the Keating Federal Building in Rochester.

Jakubonis is accused of attempting to use $10 cat "self-defense knuckles" with two sharp pointed ends while allegedly threatening Zeldin – a Republican gubernatorial candidate for New York. The incident was captured on video and showed the suspect being taken down before real damage could have been done.

Jakubonis , an Army veteran of Fairmont, New York, was previously charged with attempted assault in the second degree. However, he was arraigned and then released on his own recognizance hours later.

Before Jakubonis was released, Zeldin predicted that the suspect would be set free.

Zeldin issued a statement after the incident:

Thank you to everyone who reached out following tonight’s attack in Fairport. Someone tried to stab me on stage during this evening’s rally, but fortunately, I was able to grab his wrist and stop him for a few moments until others tackled him. I’m ok, and Alison Esposito, and all other attendees are safe. The attacker is in custody. Grateful for the attendees who stepped up quickly to assist and the law enforcement officers who quickly responded. I’m as resolute as ever to do my part to make New York safe again. This suspect will likely be right back out on the street immediately.

Embattled Democratic mayor of Rochester indicted on weapons, child endangerment charges



Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren and her husband, Timothy Granison, have been indicted on new charges related to firearms and child endangerment. The new charges stem from a police raid at their home in May, when Granison was arrested on three charges related to drugs and firearms.

The Monroe County District Attorney's Office announced that Warren and Granison were each hit with charges of criminal possession of a firearm, a Class E felony; two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, a misdemeanor; and two counts of failure to secure firearms, a misdemeanor.

The home was searched by New York state police on May 19 in relation to Granison's suspected criminal activity. Police found a rifle and pistol inside the home, where the couple's 10-year-old daughter was left alone, according to District Attorney Sandra Doorley.

Warren's husband was charged with being part of a cocaine distribution ring in Rochester. Granison is accused in a federal complaint of receiving bulk quantities of cocaine from a co-defendant and then distributing it to other alleged traffickers, according to the Associated Press. Warren is not implicated in the alleged drug trafficking ring.

Granison, 42, pleaded not guilty to drug and weapons charges last month. Regarding the new charges, Granison's attorney, John DeMarco, said, "We will enter a plea of not guilty."

"The district attorney's office, hopefully, will provide us all of the investigatory reports, search warrants, photographs, everything that the police put together for their office to present the case and will evaluate what our strategy at that time," DeMarco said.

Warren previously denied knowledge about her husband's alleged criminal activities, and said she and Granison had been separated and estranged for years despite living in the same home in Woodman Park.

Warren and her husband are to be arraigned before a Cayuga County judge in Monroe County.

Coincidentally, Warren announced a gun buy-back program for the city of Rochester in May.

"Getting guns off our streets must be our priority," Warren said in a statement. "We must continue working together with our citizens to take these guns off our streets so our residents can feel safe in their neighborhoods and live the lives they deserve."

Warren, who is a Democrat, faces her own legal issues after she was indicted on two felony campaign finance charges in October. The grand jury indictment relates to Warren's 2017 mayoral re-election campaign. One felony charge is for first-degree scheme to defraud. The other felony charge is an election law offense for illegally coordinating activities and expenditures. Warren admits to errors in reporting campaign contributions, but claims they were honest mistakes.

Warren was defeated last month by Malik Evans in the Democratic primary for Rochester mayor. Warren's second mayoral term is set to expire at the end of this year.

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Rochester mayor's husband arrested on felony drug and weapon charges after police search



The mayor of Rochester, New York, is questioning the timing of authorities arresting her husband on felony drug and weapon charges, after he was arrested as part of an ongoing drug investigation this week.

What are the details?

Mayor Lovely Warren's (D) husband, Timothy Granison, emerged as a suspect three months ago in an investigation being conducted by Rochester police and the area's narcotics team, which was launched seven months ago.

Authorities said that once Granison became a target, the part of the probe involving Granison was taken over by State Police "to preserve the integrity of the investigation for obvious reasons," the Democrat & Chronicle reported.

On Wednesday afternoon, State Police pulled Granison over and found cocaine inside his vehicle, and in a following search of the home he shares with Warren, law enforcement discovered an unregistered handgun. A rifle was also seized, but it is unclear if that firearm is illegal.

Bearing Arms noted that just last week, Warren announced a gun buy-back program for the city of Rochester.

"Getting guns off our streets must be our priority," she said in a statement. "We must continue working together with our citizens to take these guns off our streets so our residents can feel safe in their neighborhoods and live the lives they deserve."

Warren's husband was one of seven people charged in the investigation that involved authorities finding more than two kilos of powder and crack cocaine, three firearms and $100,000 cash, according to Monroe County District Attorney Sandra Doorley (R).

Granison "previously served five years probation for a 1997 jewelry store robbery," according to The Daily Caller. He was charged with three felonies in connection with Wednesday's searches: two drug possession charges, and one weapons charge.

What did the mayor say?

The mayor held a news conference Thursday wherein she addressed the charges against her husband, as well as a separate ongoing investigation into her allegedly violating election laws.

Warren, who has served as mayor of Rochester since 2014, distanced herself from her husband, saying that she and Granison had signed a separation agreement years ago but the two had decided to stay together to co-parent their daughter.

The mayor also suggested she was being targeted at this time because it is three weeks before early voting starts in the mayoral election, and after she "announced we were moving forward with reparations and universal basic income."

She declared during the presser, "Some people would do anything to try and break me."

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Democratic mayor of Rochester indicted on felony campaign finance charges



Democratic Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren has been indicted on two felony campaign finance charges, Monroe County District Attorney Sandra Doorley announced on Friday. The grand jury indictment stems from Warren's 2017 mayoral re-election campaign.

One felony charge is for first-degree scheme to defraud. The other charge is an election law offense for illegally coordinating activities and expenditures. Under New York's rule, political action committees and committees are forbidden from coordinating.

The investigation by the New York State Board of Elections claims that the Warren for a Stronger Rochester PAC transferred $30,000 from the group to Warren's committee, Friends of Lovely Warren, according to 2017 expenditure reports obtained by Rochester First.

Warren has firmly denied any wrongdoing, and called the investigation a "political witch hunt." She claims the funds were errantly deposited in the PAC account.

Warren's attorney, Joseph Damelio, said the length of time between the accusations and the investigation that led to the indictments shows the flimsiness of the criminal case.

If convicted of the Class E felony charges, Warren would be removed from office under state law. The maximum sentence would range from 16 months to four years in prison.

"While Warren would be unlikely to be incarcerated, her pension could be forfeited if the matter is determined to be a crime related to public office, and she also could lose her law license," USA Today reported.

Warren has not been arrested but will be processed, according to Doorley.

"This could be a long process and we anticipate that there could be challenges along the way so I don't think this will be anything resolved quickly," Doorley said during a news briefing.

Warren's campaign treasurer, Albert Jones Jr., and the treasurer of her political action committee, Rosalind Brooks-Harris, have also been indicted in the case. Brooks-Harris is also Rochester's finance director.

Warren and her two campaign associates will be arraigned at 4 p.m. Monday, Oct. 5, in front of Cayuga County Judge Thomas Leone in Monroe County.

The Rochester mayor has been scrutinized over her handling of the death of Daniel Prude, who died while in the custody of Rochester police. The 41-year-old Prude died after police put a spit hood on his head during his arrest in March. He was completely nude during his arrest. The death sparked protests and riots in the city, where agitators targeted outside diners and residential homes.

In September, the entire Rochester Police Department command staff resigned.

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Rochester police captain blasts Dem's bail reform and politicians wanting more gun laws: 'You don't know what you're talking about'



There was a tragic mass shooting in Rochester this weekend where 14 people were shot, and two teenagers were killed at a party, where more than 40 rounds were fired. The two people killed were identified by police as Jarvis Alexander and Jaquayla Young, both age 19. All of the shooting victims are between the ages of 17 and 23. Rochester Police Department Captain Frank Umbrino gave a press conference about the mass shooting where he criticized policies by Democrats that he said have made the New York less safe.

Umbrino was asked about enforcing new gun laws to stop shootings, and he responded by saying New York has "some of the toughest gun laws in the country." He then asked, "Why are we going to create more laws when we don't enforce the laws that are on the books?"

"But when you have the same people committing the same crimes over and over and over again, new laws aren't gonna help them," Umbrino said.

"I've been doing this a long time, and I've been involved in hundreds of homicide investigations here in the city of Rochester," the captain said. "Do you know how many of those homicide investigations involved individuals that owned legally-registered handguns? Honestly, I can't remember one that wasn't justified or ruled as justified by a grand jury in which a suspect committed a murder with a legally owned handgun."

"So again, if these politicians want to get up and spew that we need more gun laws, they're just lying, they don't want to answer the real questions that need to be answered," Umbrino said.

"I'm not surprised by the violence that's been taking place," Umbrino said, as reported in The Daily Wire. "You know, I'm going to get in trouble, probably, for this, but if I hear one more politician talk about what we need to do to stop the violence; we need more gun laws, we need this, we need that — quite frankly, I'm going to vomit. These people who say that have no idea what they are talking about."

"We have a lot of gun laws currently on the books that we don't enforce. I shouldn't say we don't enforce — we enforce them, but you have individuals locked up for illegal handguns, and being released from custody the next day," the captain said, referring to bail reform. "That's disgusting. How does that happen?"

"So, if anybody is surprised that there's been an uptick in violence, since we don't enforce the current gun laws that we have, I don't know what to tell ya. But those are the facts," Umbrino added. "These politicians that wanna say we need more gun laws, we need this, we need that, do me a favor: just stop talking, because you really don't know what you're talking about."

Captain Umbrino then lambasted bail reform, a policy that Democrats have recently embraced.

"Bail reform, in my opinion — as a 30-year veteran in law enforcement, and working in the city of Rochester for the last 30 years — bail reform has a significant impact on the amount of crime and the uptick in crime that's been occurring in our community and throughout New York state," he claimed. "Look at the numbers. … the numbers are terrible. And anybody that says bail reform is not part of the blame in that is fooling themselves. And stop telling us that."

Umbrino said he has been talking to local residents who have been "getting frustrated" in the last three weeks. This when the anti-police brutality protests regarding the death of Daniel Prude, who died in police custody, started. The captain said local residents were getting upset with outsiders and they told him they wanted these people to "get the hell out of our city and let us take care of our problems the way we need to take care of them."

"It's a tragedy, unfortunately, it's another innocent person that's gunned down for absolutely no good reason whatsoever, it's heart-wrenching when you have innocent people getting killed," Umbrino stated. "I just hope, a month from now, everybody remembers their names."

No suspects in the mass shooting are in custody. The police investigation is ongoing.

Umbrino's comments about gun control and bail reform begin at the 11-minute mark.

RAW: Frank Umbrino updates Rochester media on mass shooting www.youtube.com