Home Depot Employee, Military Veteran, Fired for Trying to Stop Thieves

KSLA News 12 Shreveport, Louisiana News Weather & Sports

Working in a retail position, pretty much every handbook states that you should not confront anyone who is trying to steal from your store.

However, if you're a military veteran, sometimes the instinct is to intervene, which is exactly what happened to 70-year-old Jim Tinney.

He was working at Home Depot in Pearland and noticed three men in the checkout line with thousands of dollars of tools according to ksla.com.

He heard one say "Let's go", and they darted for the door. Tinney was holding a paint roller extension which he used to throw at the feet of the men to try to trip them up.

The men got away.

A couple of weeks after the incident, Tinney was fired for trying to prevent the robbery.

Home Depot issued this statement.

We have a strict policy that only our trained security personnel can pursue and engage shoplifters. We've had deaths and serious injury over the years, and no amount of merchandise is more important than the safety of our associates and customers.

Now Tinney is having trouble finding another job. He told KSLA, "I think they could have written me up and reprimanded me. But terminate me? That's pretty strong. I'm 70 years old. I need to work, and I needed that job. I enjoyed working with the customers helping figure out what they want to do. It's fun."

I agree. He admitted to violating policy but, especially if this was a first offense for him, a simple write up would have been enough punishment.