Shooting Victim Sues Guard & Circle K

TUCSON (CN) - A security guard shot and paralyzed a young father of two while chasing three boys suspected of shoplifting snack food, the man claims in Superior Court. He says Circle K never should have hired the guard because he had pleaded guilty to felony weapons charges and was barred from carrying a gun.

Daniel Tarango says he was shot three times as he sat in his mother's car - once in the spine - leaving him paralyzed from the waist down. He also sued Valley Protective Services and the guard who allegedly shot him.

Tarango claims Joshua W. Kosatschenko, 19, was one of two contract security guards on duty at the Circle K on Tucson's south side in the early morning of June 3. Both guards sat in a back room of the store watching a security camera feed, and when they saw three boys stealing food, a chase ensued and Kosatschenko pulled shot at the kids with his .45 Desert Eagle handgun loaded with hollow-point bullets, according to the complaint in Pima County Court.

"Kosatschenko fired his gun in the direction of Daniel Tarango, who had not entered the store but was seated in the driver's seat of his mother's car," the lawsuit states.

Three bullets hit Tarango, one of them lodging in his spinal cord and paralyzing him from the waist down, the suit says.

Court records show Kosatschenko had a few felony scrapes with the law while a juvenile and was barred from owning a weapon. The complaint states the "Prior to the subject incident, defendant Kotatschenko had pled guilty to three felonies involving a dangerous weapons, and his attempt to regain the right to possess firearms was denied by an Arizona court."

The Arizona Daily Star reported after the incident that Kosatschenko had a license to work as an armed security guard because background searches for such licenses do not take into account juvenile records.

While he was initially charged with attempted murder and released from jail on a $10,000 bond, court records show that there are no criminal charges pending against Kosatschenko. The Star reported July 14 that the Pima County Attorney's Office would not indict him.

Kosatschenko's attorney told the newspaper that the security guard fired because Tarango was trying to run down his fellow guard while making a getaway with the alleged shoplifters.

Tarango and his parents, on behalf of Tarango's two minor children, filed the civil against Kosatschenko and his co-worker, Nicholas Kangas. They want a jury trial and unspecified damages. They are represented by Stanley Feldman with Haralson Miller.

Subscribe to Closing Arguments

Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.

Email *

Submit