by
Rob Wolchek (Facebook photo)
Fox 2’s Rob Wolchek, who was known for his “Hall of Shame” shtick, going after scammers who ripped off consumers, is wrapping up his 28 year career at the station on Monday.
“Monday is my last day at Fox 2 News. Tune in as I’ll be on all the shows (starting at 10 a.m. through 10 p.m.),” he writes on Facebook alongside a photo of him playing the guitar. “Should be lots of fun. I promise not to play my guitar … already brought it home from work.”
In December, Wolchek announced his retirement, saying in a press release:
“I’ll be 67 years old. I just feel like it’s time to spend more time with my wife and kids and grandchild and not have to come to work five days a week.”
His first media job came in 1978 as a deejay playing country music in Farmington, New Mexico. He moved on to work as a traffic reporter for KNX radio in Los Angeles.
He later took a job as a reporter at KGET-TV in Bakersfield, Calif.
“I’d convinced my wife to move from the glamour of Los Angeles to the sticks of Bakersfield with the promise that someday I’d be a great reporter, so I had to grind it out for three long years,” Wolchek said in the press release in December.
He then headed to KJEO-TV, now KGPE, in Fresno, Calif., where in his first week he worked on a story about a special park for disabled children that had been burned to the ground by arsonists.
“I was really moved by the story and angry with the hoodlums that torched a place that meant so much to kids who’d already been dealt a tough hand,” Wolchek explained. “My stories started a drive to rebuild the park, and I got a special award from the city of Fresno. All of a sudden, I got a reputation as an advocate for the people.”
He was soon named the “Scambuster” because of stories he did on people getting ripped off.
In 1997, he came to work for Fox 2, where he chased down suspected scammers in what he called the “Hall of Shame.”
