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The owner of Nick’s Party Stop on Cass Avenue in Clinton Township and several people connected to his store are being sued by a man who was shot while robbing the store.

The lawsuit, filed by Scott Thomas Zielinski from his cell in a Michigan prison, was assigned to Macomb County Circuit Judge David Viviano.

John Acho, owner of the store and one of the people sued, said his customers are mad that an armed robber is allowed to file a lawsuit after he threatened the store’s employees with a knife.

Zielinski is seeking in excess of $125,000 for injuries sustained when he was shot escaping from the owners of the store. They went after him because he held two of the employees at knifepoint and threatened to kill them, police said.

“He comes into my store wearing a mask and armed with a knife, threatens to kill my employees and steals cigarettes and $793 in cash,” said Acho. “And he is suing us because we ruined his life and he is going through pain and suffering.”

Zielinski, 22, was convicted of the November 2007 robbery. In a plea bargain, he was sentenced May 20, 2008, to eight to 22 years in prison for unarmed, instead of armed, robbery.

A year earlier, he was sentenced to one year, seven months in prison for the robbery of Charter One Bank in Warren on Feb. 17, 2006.
http://www.theoaklandpress.com/artic...5219277908.txt

welcome to the great american legal system. you go and rob a place and then sue them for shooting your DUMB A55

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bachviet

That's why when you shoot someone, make sure that he/she is dead.

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cruelpupet

Everyone should have the right to sue.

Though I doubt he will win...I dont know of any case like that where the person won.

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DarkFury

His own actions caused his shooting... therefore the case will be closed (by any sane judge that is...)

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cheapie

i think he was pursued outside the store and shot while leaving. that makes a difference because the store employee wasn't in any danger but shot the thief anyway.

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Cheesypuff

in the case of revenge (the store workers are not defending themselves, rather are seeking revenge), I'd say the robber has a valid case.

Would you find it right for a robber to rob a store, get away with it, and the next day the store clerk sees the robber in passing on the street and take out a gun and shoot him?

i'm not defending the robber at all...if you rob a store, you should be punished for it, but taking revenge after the fact is out of line also.

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The Happy Squirrel

$125K? he Can have the guy killed in prison for about 5% of that. case closed

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Daedalus

"Well, your honor, he had already threatened the lives of my employees with a knife. When I produced a gun, he ran off, and we all sincerely felt threatened because we thought he was going to get a gun and make good on his threats. I ran after him, and aimed for and shot him once in what I figured to be a non-lethal area for the purpose of incapacitating him to ensure the safety of myself and my employees."

cruelpupet

Is your name cousin vinny?

Thesifer

The cases like this don't make the American Legal System a joke. It's only if people win cases without any merit. And without hearing the case, I'm not positive this is one. But there are plenty of "robber sues.. and loses" cases out there.

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guiseppewv

Hey buddy, if you don't want to be shot then don't commit armed robbery.

attgig

the problem with these things is that i think what becomes an issue is that he got sent to jail for unarmed robbery, instead of armed. so if the judge doesn't allow the details in, then the store owner is screwed.

so, it'll depend on the judge.

on top of that, there's always racial motivators in the case. here in b city, because the juries are so predominantly black, if it's a black person who sues, they'll get something out of it.
(that's just the way it happens, not saying it's wrong/right, etc.... it's just the way that it happens).
so, where they file the case, and the races involved play a role in all this...

there's so many loopholes that they can use and abuse to make suits stand up longer than they should.

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Jeffbx

It'll get thrown out. He WAS shot as he fled the store - in the back & in the arm. But I think there's some law in MI about not being able to sue for things that happen while you're committing a felony.

Maarchk

The two youtes?

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clutchy

shoot to kill.

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cruelpupet

Two what?

Nija

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VTGreg

Dees two youtes

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clutchy

"my cousin vinny"

Houdini

No, no, no, no, NO! Never use lethal force intentionally non-lethally. You likely will go to jail. If you try to "incapacitate" a person instead of simply shooting to stop (say, by shooting a kneecap or something,) any lawyer worth his name will say you had no right to shoot him. This is a basic tenet taught by almost all concealed-weapons instructors and has been upheld in court many times.

You don't necessarily have to shoot to kill; you shoot to stop. Typically, you shoot for center of mass, and if that fails, perhaps a head shot is in order. At any rate, it's good to attempt to render aid, ask for an ambulance when you call 911, etc. You don't want to kill the guy necessarily, but you do want him to stop being a lethal threat to you. If he dies as a side-effect of this, it is more easily considered justifiable homicide.

H <---been there, done that

clutchy

i think it's time to relay the story.

Showtime

In California, he'd probably win his case and they'd be doing time.

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LPMiller

he'd win in a lot of states, because he was shot running away. I think in some states that's an automatic lose for the guy with the gun.

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guiseppewv

It depends on what was said. If the robber threatened to come back and kill them then I think they could justify it.

Houdini

Perhaps. But the details don't really matter. Anyone with any ability to search news stories can find out about it, though some of the "facts" in the news aren't so, and my name was kept out of the media. It's been nearly three years, and only about 4 people here know the details. But, yes, I can claim some expertise in this subject due to personal experience, and it does explain my position on personal gun rights, as without those rights, or even with limits on types of guns that go above and beyond the Machine Gun Act of 1934 (such as the past and likely future AWB, with stupid restrictions on things like cosmetics and capacity,) I would likely not be posting here today. Had it happened in certain states that deny the Second Amendment (for now) to most citizens, such as IL, I may have disappeared as well.

Not that it was all good. As I was a physician and a psychiatry resident at the time, I faced all the "shoot out of his hand" or "shoot in the leg?" questions. I was immediately judged; people who knew me for years stopped talking to me, and I had to deal with a lot of intra-departmental politics. The mayor of NOLA as well as the police chief, both idiots, also had not-so-nice things to say about me (though I had met both on several occasions.) I got the most support and continue to, ironically, from people in the law-enforcement community. It was necessary, but not something to take lightly.

H

LPMiller

as someone who knows the story, if I'm recalling it correctly, you seemed fully justified in your actions to me.

nate el bueno

A lot of people think it's easy to be John Wayne every time something goes wrong. And I'm with the "never use non-lethal force with a lethal weapon". I fired about 1,200 5.56 rounds in our combat marksmanship training this last week. The Marines have several different "drills" for dealing with things like this. The most famous is the "failure" drill, being the 2 to the chest, 1 to the head. If someone's a threat to your life or others, there's no reason to try to incapacitate (sp?) him.

Wasn't there some story a while back about someone that broke into someone's house and fell on some knives and was trying to sue for that?

The Happy Squirrel

not true, its only a threat in an assault standpoint if it makes the person fearful of immediate action. If he threatens to come back, then you should be gone when he comes back. you were given an out and didn't take it.

Robber: "I'm leaving but....."
Clerk: Bang bang

doesn't work!

guiseppewv

Actually, if the robber says, I am leaving but I am going to hunt you all down and kill you then I think it would be justified.

Houdini

Legally, that's a sticky question. If he's not a threat, but is threatening a return, having considerable backup (LEOs, etc) when/if he returns may make more sense, tempting as it may be to go after someone who has threatened you and your family/friends.

Then again, a lot of this depends on the laws of your state, as sadly, some have "duty to retreat" laws on the books that even apply to home invasions.
H