Beloved Store Clerk Puts Children Through College, Beat to Death by Shoplifter, on the Run

Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

iHeartPodcasts and CrimeOnline

News, True Crime

4.2 • 8.1K Ratings

🗓️ 31 August 2023

⏱️ 36 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

For as long as anyone can remember, Yowhannes "John" Tewelde has been the clerk at the Richmond Market in San Francisco.

He works 7 days a week, raising his two daughters to be educated and accomplished. Less than a year ago Tewolde became a US Citizen. Just 4 months after that celebration, Tewolde underwent heart surgery, then returned to work at the earliest opportunity.

The 60-year-old clerk was beaten by a suspect trying to steal beer. It was the second time that day that the suspect tried to shoplift.

The owner says Tewolde tried to stop the thief, but the suspect knocked Tewolde down, causing him to hit his head on the ground. He died after days in a coma.

Joining Nancy Grace Today:

Marjan Philhour- Customer/neighbor/local parent/small business and community advocate, Co-founder of the Balboa Village Merchants Association, Go Fund Me: Violent crime in Richmond District https://www.gofundme.com/f/outer-richmond-community
Jarrett Ferentino – Pennsylvania Attorney/Homicide Prosecutor; Facebook & Instagram: Jarrett Ferentino
Caryn L. Stark - Psychologist, Renowned TV and Radio Trauma Expert and Consultant; Instagram: carynpsych, FB: Caryn Stark Private Practice
Jason Jensen – Private Investigator (Jensen Private Investigations), Cold Case Expert (Salt Lake City, UT), and Co-founder: “Cold Case Coalition;” Investigations; Twitter: @JasonJPI, Facebook/Instagram: “Jensen Investigations”
Andy Kahan - Director of Victim Services and Advocacy at Crime Stoppers of Houston, crime-stoppers.org
Dr. Othon Mena - Forensic Pathologist (working as a medical examiner in Southern California)
Alexis Tereszcuk - CrimeOnline.com Investigative Reporter, Writer/Fact Checker, Lead Stories.Com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Now here's a dad that never missed a day's work.
0:21.6	He reminds me so much of my father who never missed a day of work at the railroad.
0:29.9	Even sometimes he would go when he was having chest pains, he was a heart patient.
0:35.4	Mr. Tewaldi worked seven days a week helping his children advance.
0:48.5	He never missed going to work because he wanted to help them move forward with school and have a better life.
0:57.3	Seven days a week.
1:00.5	This after he has heart surgery, they beg him to stay home.
1:07.5	But no, he did not want to miss work and he did.
1:14.2	So why is it that this man working at the store, the mini mart, the grocery, right around the corner?
1:27.3	Mining his own business is beaten so badly in the head trying to stop a shot lifter that he is beaten into a brain coma.
1:48.7	And then Mr. Tewaldi dies.
1:56.2	Why?
1:58.2	The killer, the shot lifter, is on the loose.
2:04.7	He's on the run and I want him behind bars.
2:11.1	When will it stop?
2:14.9	You know, we see those pictures on our iPads and our iPhones or on TV of people, a group of guys and hoodies.
2:26.9	You can't make out their face, they run into some high-end store like Nordstroms or Sacks.
2:33.3	And there's such idiots, they're actually pulling the items that are chained to the tables, the display tables.
2:43.7	The tables are being pulled along with them.
2:46.5	They take thousands and thousands of dollars of fancy pocketbooks and clothing, designer clothing, whatever they can get their hands on.
2:59.3	But now, this father is dead.
3:04.1	It's not just grabbing some overpriced pocketbook that some rich socialite or Kim Kardashian is going to buy.
	...

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