Walmart Employee Dies Weeks After Being Intentionally Struck By Driver Outside Wilton Store: PD

By Michael Mashburn From Daily Voice

A Walmart employee who was purposely rammed by a driver outside an upstate New York store last month has died, police said.

Michael Bushey, 69, of Saratoga Springs, died Monday, Nov. 3, at Albany Medical Center, according to New York State Police.

Bushey had been hospitalized since Thursday, Oct. 16, when troopers said 34-year-old Timothy Besaw, of Gansevoort, intentionally hit him and another employee with his vehicle outside the Wilton Walmart after a confrontation over alleged shoplifting.

Besaw tried to leave the store with unpaid items and, after being stopped by employees, got into an argument in the parking lot, police said. Moments later, he got into a vehicle and allegedly rammed into two workers, including Bushey.

Bushey was airlifted to Albany Medical Center with life-threatening injuries, according to his daughter, Brittany Sanders, who created a GoFundMe to support her parents. Her father had undergone multiple surgeries for a fractured pelvis, broken wrist, and other severe injuries, and was preparing for discharge to rehabilitation before his sudden decline.

In an emotional update Monday, Sanders said her father went into cardiac arrest after struggling to breathe. Doctors worked for two hours to save him but discovered a massive blood clot that ultimately proved fatal.

“Our family is now left to deal with this tremendous loss of someone we loved so deeply,” she wrote. “If it wasn’t for the coward who decided to hit him with his vehicle, he would still be here with us.”

Friends and co-workers rememebered Bushey as a kindhearted presence both inside and outside the store.

On Facebook, Katy Aunchman described Bushey as “a remarkable person, always displaying kindness, respect, and compassion towards others.” She said his life was “tragically cut short” after the Walmart incident and that he had now “been called home, ending any suffering he may have experienced.”

Besaw quickly fled the scene. Saratoga County Sheriff’s deputies located him a short time later after his car crashed off Perry Road.

He was taken into custody and brought to the State Police facility in Wilton, where he refused a breath test, police said. A blood sample was later taken at Glens Falls Hospital and sent for toxicology testing.

Besaw was previously charged with assault, vehicular assault, petit larceny, DWI, and leaving the scene of an accident. He was remanded to the Saratoga County Correctional Facility on $100,000 bond.

Those who wish to support Bushey's family can donate via GoFundMe here.