Convict files suit from prison

By Heidi Roman
C & G Staff Writer

CLINTON TOWNSHIP — A knife-armed robber who was shot by employees at the Clinton Township party store he was trying to rob in 2007 is suing the employees and the owner of the store in Macomb County Circuit Court, claiming the employees used “vigilantism” to stop him.

Scott Zielinski of New Haven, 23, is currently serving an eight-year sentence in the Saginaw Correctional Facility for robbing Nick’s Short Stop on Cass Avenue on Nov. 15, 2007. Zielinski was on parole at the time for a bank robbery, police said, and was armed with a knife when he entered the party store. He stole $793 cash, cigarettes and whiskey from the store, but didn’t get far before employees stopped him.

One employee, Justin Kallo, grabbed a gun from underneath the counter and shot at Zielinski on his way out of the store, according to the lawsuit. Kallo and his brother, Johnathan Kallo, who also works at the store, followed the robber out into the parking lot, and Justin Kallo shot him in the back and arm as he ran across Cass Avenue, the lawsuit claims.

Clinton Township police officers arrived and took it from there, charging Zielinski with armed robbery and assault with a deadly weapon. He later pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of unarmed robbery, and was sentenced to eight to 22 1/2 years in prison.

Now Zielinski has filed a lawsuit against the brothers who chased him and the owner of the store, claiming the employees used excessive force trying to protect themselves and the store.

“I think what he (Zielinski) did was wrong, but he was punished for that crime and is serving the sentence for that crime,” said Zielinski’s attorney, Andrew Mychalowych. “This lawsuit is about what happened after (the robbery).”

Mychalowych claims that Zielinski had already dropped the money and cigarettes when the employee fired a gun at him, and that the employees went too far in trying to debilitate the robber.

“When he was disabled on the ground, they continued to savagely beat him, kick him,” Mychalowych said. “His actions were not right, but the response to his actions was not right. … Vigilantism is not something to be tolerated in this society.”

The store’s owner, Johnson Acho, did not return calls for comment.

Attorney Tom Peters, who is representing the employees and Acho, said the employees acted in self defense. If they hadn’t shot and incapacitated the man, there was no telling what he might have done, Peters said.

“They were scared to death; they were threatened,” Peters said. “They didn’t know what was going to happen at that point in time.”

Peters said the employees, both of whom were in high school at the time, were shaken up by the incident, and one brother was treated by a psychiatrist for a while following the robbery. Both employees are nephews of the store’s owner, who had only owned the store for about a month.

“He’s very upset this (lawsuit) was filed,” Peters said.

Peters questions the very existence of the lawsuit. He doesn’t believe the case should be permitted under state law, since Zielinski has already admitted — and again admits in his lawsuit — to robbing the store.

“He’s admitting to a robbery, a felony,” Peters said. Once it’s established that someone is in the act of committing a felony, a victim has the right to protect themselves against the threat on their life.

“This case needs to be thrown out,” he said.

Peters filed a motion to dismiss the case, but Circuit Court Judge David Viviano denied the request. Peters said he intends to re-file the motion to dismiss the case as soon as he gathers the necessary information.

Zielinski is asking for monetary damages, plus court costs and attorney fees.

You can reach Staff Writer Heidi Roman at hroman@candgnews.com or at (586) 218-5006.