AutoZone Worker Saves Boss From Armed Robber, Gets Fired

ONLY in America. Here's a video interview with the employee....



Brave family man does what any decent human being would do in that situation, and the corporations argue semantics about policies & procedures.

In my opinion, getting fired from that "going nowhere fast" job with all this media attention will bring about 1000s of good job offers to this man. This is Karma in live action. The anti-human corporation loses a valued employee, the employee then gets a real chance at success soon after.

At least the corporation won't be held liable for future lawsuits "just in case" this man later decided to unload on customers, when Autozone knowingly kept him on staff after such an incident with a firearm. That's probably what AZ's lawyers told them in the board room.

They probably voided all his Rewards points too.



Great story.

Bit silly if you ask me. He was much more likely to have gotten shot because he pulled a gun.

Originally posted by homeslice
Bit silly if you ask me. He was much more likely to have gotten shot because he pulled a gun.

He was lucky. He put his boss and that company ahead of his own needs.
I said "any decent human being" would do the same, but I'm not so sure I would in that situation.

I probably would grab my gun and help my co-workers or boss, but I'd probably use the CEO as a human shield.

I'll never understand the mentality behind risking your life for other people's money. Don't get me wrong - when confronted with that sort of situation, confronting and stopping an armed robber is admirable and some would say heroic, but I can safely say that I would -never- do it.

Putting ones arse on the line to protect your OWN property is an entirely other thing, or to protect anothers life. And I don't agree with this fella losing his job, if anything the corp should have gave his a plaque or something to hang on his wall, that or a raise.

I was working in a hotel years ago, with a bar in an annex. One night, 4am, bar was closed, I heard voices and movement in the bar area. So I called the cops. By the time they showed up, the burglars had skedaddled with the cash in the safe (a disgruntled ex-employee and her meth-head boyfriend jacked it).

The following day, I was admonished by the hotel owner for not doing more, for not confronting the burglars. I laughed in his face and told him flat out that I wasn't going to lay my life down to protect his money. He was a little hot headed at the time, as anybody would be having been robbed, but later that day after some reflection he told me I was right, and that I did a good job. His property was recovered and the perps did their time.

reply to post by Monger


I can't disagree with your opinion, even risking your life for "any" property is a stretch.
It's just stuff, not worth a life... except the CEO's if necessary to use as protection from robbers.

I worked for a corporate chain gas station/convenience store in the 90s. Absolute minimum wage.
I heard through the grape vine I was going to get fired on that Friday because a "corporate spy shopper" came in and caught me making a $0.99 mistake on a bag of chips. This was before scanners.

I quit the next day & left them a note telling them where to go and when to go there.
The guy I replaced when I got hired, was a 7 year employee who was fired for the same thing.

Originally posted by homeslice
Bit silly if you ask me. He was much more likely to have gotten shot because he pulled a gun.

Silly huh?
Sheeple comments remind me of this commercial.

Politically correct Bravo Sierra.
Eventually the thief will shoot somebody, and if it were not for brave men like him, they would not hesitate to do so.
May I ask, what is your carbon foot print?

Originally posted by Violater1

Originally posted by homeslice
Bit silly if you ask me. He was much more likely to have gotten shot because he pulled a gun.

Silly huh?
Sheeple comments remind me of this commercial.

Politically correct Bravo Sierra.
Eventually the thief will shoot somebody, and if it were not for brave men like him, they would not hesitate to do so.
May I ask, what is your carbon foot print?

Not everybody's a 'hero'. Refusing to put ones life on the line to protect an employer's money doesn't make one a 'sheeple' (the most retarded word ever). One could argue that the opposite is true.

At the end of the day, I have a family who needs me to come home to them. I could give a # what you think of me for putting them before another man's money.

I guess I may be a little jaded to this in having grown up around cops to hear the stories of the worst ones. The ones where everyone gets herded in the back and shot or much worse ... I'll leave it there and say some stories a cop's kid hears are probably beyond what a kid needs to hear about at all. It helps form my opinion that this guy did the right thing though. There is 'doing something' just to do something and being stupid while getting people killed ....and then there is doing something to be effective. Obviously, he's alive and that's all the answer that whole thing really needs.

Firing him is a disgrace. I'd say he had an opportunity to show loyalty few employees ever get and chose wisely. I'll not be using AutoZone for anything again. Ever. I hope firing him was worth it, as I'm sure millions feel similarly. There are a few other auto parts stores to choose from...no loss for me.

Interesting story to say the least, they say to never, ever get involved with a " robber" at a store you work at.

I guess the rule really does always apply...


SS

I don't think this employee's intention was motivated by "saving Autozone's money & merchandise."

I think he was trying to help his boss and any co-workers who could have been shot by this repeat offender. He did a brave thing, but the "right" thing is a matter of personal perspective. No one opinion is the correct opinion.

Originally posted by JibbyJedi
but the "right" thing is a matter of personal perspective.

The "right" thing in this case had been decided long before the robber walked through the door.

Autozone had discussed the issue of armed robberies and decided that they never wanted a shootout in the store to occur, and that employees were to follow certain instructions to ensure maximum safety of people, even if that meant loss of Autozone property and/or revenue.

This gunslinger said "to hell with that"!

reply to post by alfa1


I'll bite.

The "right" thing in this case had been decided long before the robber walked through the door.

Autozone had discussed the issue of armed robberies and decided that they never wanted a shootout in the store to occur, and that employees were to follow certain instructions to ensure maximum safety of people, even if that meant loss of Autozone property and/or revenue.

This gunslinger said "to hell with that"!

The "right" thing was determined beforehand, by AZ's lawyers, which were all in AZ's legal best interests. Not necessarily what was in the human factor's best interests.

If AZ hired a master gunslinger/sniper/target shooter to work the registers, the same policies & procedures would apply to them, though ridiculous as that sounds. Take away "the legal system" and humanity suddenly applies to decision making once again.

This "gunslinger" is not different than me here in NH, practicing my right to bear arms.
It takes me about 10-15mins at the local gun shop to purchase a handgun and massive amounts of ammo, no problem. When you live in that type of environment, guns & gun safety become 2nd nature to every day life.

I can legally bring my gun to work and leave it in my vehicle.
If my occupation is being subjected to a felony crime of lethal consequences, I may, if able, practice my civil right to arm myself in fear of my life and do what may be necessary in those course of actions.

That's how it would sound in my statement on a police report.

Originally posted by JibbyJedi
This "gunslinger" is not different than me here in NH, practicing my right to bear arms.

Actually he is different - that being he was an Autozone employee.
Now we all know that companies make all sorts of rules, regarding dress code, language, behaviour and so forth. These apply to the employees, but do NOT apply to you. Thats the difference.

Originally posted by JibbyJedi
I can legally bring my gun to work and leave it in my vehicle.

So can that guy.
But we arent talking "legally" here, we're talking about company rules.

If the company says you have to wear a tie, then you do, or else get fired.
If the company says you have to greet each customer with a smile, then you do, or else get fired.
If the company says you dont look at prOn on the computers, then you dont, or else get fired.
If the company says you dont discuss religion or politics with customers, then you dont, or else get fired.
If the company says you dont confront robbers with your gun, then you dont, or else get fired.
If the company says you have to mention the "special of the day" to all customers, then you do, or else get fired.

None of this is a discussion of legalities.
Nobody is claiming he broke the law.

reply to post by alfa1

But we arent talking "legally" here, we're talking about company rules.

Right, he broke company policy. I don't think anyone was arguing that point.
The opinions stated were disagreeing with the company policy & maybe overriding it.

I can take it a step further.

"Legally" he can't leave the store, go to his car, get his gun, then return to the store to draw his gun on the robbers.... at least here in NH.

Once he was "out of harms way and/or out of a life threatening situation", to then arm himself, and return to that life threatening environment, it puts him in the wrong in a firearms sense. Legally he should have escaped the store & then called 911, then remained in a safe area.

You can get in a lot of trouble firing a gun within commercial business and/or residential areas within certain distances, being inside the building would be well within those limits. If you are already "armed" at the moment of having your life in serious threat, THEN you may brandish your weapon and/or discharge the firearm in fear of your safety, so to speak.

That doesn't take away how I feel about his actions on a human level of bravery.

reply to post by JibbyJedi

In my opinion, getting fired from that "going nowhere fast" job with all this media attention will bring about 1000s of good job offers to this man.

really - would you hire a man whoes main " claim to fame " is :

i ignore company policy

well would you ?

reply to post by ignorant_ape

really - would you hire a man whoes main " claim to fame " is :

i ignore company policy

well would you ?

Depends on the job. He is probably destined to be a bouncer.

I would consider what policies & procedures he violated in regards to the position I was hiring him for. I've hired many people in my time, and I mostly considered job experience far beyond education background. With his past job experience, I'd hire him in a second when it concerned a job where they are responsible for the safety of human lives.

I used to work in a little shop where only 2 employees would be present at any given time. One night we were closing and a robber caught me by surprise and put a gun to my neck. My supervisor complied 100% while he had me lie face down on the floor with my hands over my head.

Loss prevention called us the next shift and grilled us about why we didn't hit the panic button (after this incident we had a silent alarm installed near the register.) They didn't seem to understand that this guy was pointing a gun to my head. They insisted that my supervisor should have ran to hit the alarm and then run out the back door. They instructed the manager to tell all employees to do this in the future.

Me and my supervisor refused outright. We told the manager that we'd never risk someone's life just to sound the alarm and run out the store while someone else was being held at gunpoint.

Ridiculous corporations and incompetent loss prevention. I want so BAD to leak the corporation name, but..you know...urgghhhh!

Oh, and this guy admitted to at least a dozen armed robberies, was a tier 3 sex offender (supervisor was a woman), and wanted in a couple different states for battery, rape, and robberies.

He said that he went gambling at local casinos with the money he stole. He made off with something like 300-600 dollars. I'm so glad loss prevention has our best interests at heart.

I really feel for that guy in the video

Man, that is just messed up.

They helped in a way.

Doesn't he get paid to go on these shows?

I bet it's more than his paycheck.

reply to post by Violater1


Sheeple? Ha, who uses that word?

Sure he was brave, but at the end of the day stupid.
Oh but he is a marine, so hes experienced at killing people, so its probably ok.

Originally posted by Monger
I'll never understand the mentality behind risking your life for other people's money. Don't get me wrong - when confronted with that sort of situation, confronting and stopping an armed robber is admirable and some would say heroic, but I can safely say that I would -never- do it.

Putting ones arse on the line to protect your OWN property is an entirely other thing, or to protect anothers life. And I don't agree with this fella losing his job, if anything the corp should have gave his a plaque or something to hang on his wall, that or a raise.

There was a case where I was living this lady was robbed at a gas station she complied with the persons demands and got the crap beat out of her. She spent a long time in the hospital recovering from her injuries..

Who is to say this case wouldnt have been the same of the guy would have shot them 2..

Like the worker said.. He was doing what he thought was right, since he was in the military I am sure they train people on how to use weapons..