Best Buy Employee Fired for Stopping Laptop Thief

[vicsrealms]

Our legal system doesn't make any frackin' sense. A thief, and a criminal can sue you for being hurt while in the act of a crime!!? He's a criminal and stupid enough to get caught in the act, all his rights should go out the window.

 

[swamprat]

[citation][nom]obiown77[/nom]I'm gonna grab my friend and grab a 60" 3DTV tonight, well just pick it up, and slowly walk out. As everything is looking at take this TV, I will keep reminding them. STAY BACK EVERYONE!!!! COMPANY POLICY STATES YOU CAN NOT AND WILL NOT INTERFERE WITH MY THEFT OF THIS TV!!!!!![/citation]
The correct response is to wait until they're out of the door (and thus have committed a crime) and then tackle them (being America I guess that means shoot them in the back and then ask them to return the stolen goods... no offence intended, of course).

 

[jsrudd]

I would also it has to do with the image of the store. If store employees were constantly acting when they thought someone was stealing then it would disrupt the shopping experience for everyone. Imagine if the guy was mistaken and this guy had actually paid for the computers or if you had seen someone tackled in Best Buy. Either way you might think again before returning to the store.

 

[macewrox]

[citation][nom]swamprat[/nom]The correct response is to wait until they're out of the door (and thus have committed a crime) and then tackle them (being America I guess that means shoot them in the back and then ask them to return the stolen goods... no offence intended, of course).[/citation]

If you are an employee of Best Buy, even if the thief exits the building, you cannot touch them. You can make a wall of people to block them from exiting, but you cannot touch the offender, because they can sue the frack out of the company for assault.

 

[abowlofsoda]

Good to know.. I'll be stealing from Best Buy now

 

[COLGeek]

Hypothetical situation: The employee is seriously injured or killed while trying to stop a crime in progress.That same employee was aware of the non-interference policy but chose to ignore it. Is BB liable for the injury/death?

This is the crux of the matter and why the policy exists. It is not a matter of "right" or "wrong". It is a legal matter. Businesses carry insurance for these situations and law enforcement has the responsibility to deal with the perpetrators . This is not for a BB employee to do.

 

[SoiledBottom]

The rest of the story

The suspect Mr. Brent Carter Latendress was also fired from the Crime syndicate he worked for.

Company policy...dont get caught...sad day for the work force

 

[moehoward]

"I'm gonna grab my friend and grab a 60" 3DTV tonight, well just pick it up, and slowly walk out. As everything is looking at take this TV, I will keep reminding them. STAY BACK EVERYONE!!!! COMPANY POLICY STATES YOU CAN NOT AND WILL NOT INTERFERE WITH MY THEFT OF THIS TV!!!!!!"

Unfortunately, that is where we are headed. I blame the Courts and brainless juries.

 

[jgalecio]

Soooooo if I go to BB now and walk out with a brand new tv that I wont pay for they wont stop me!? Man we are some of the brightest lights in the world! To make matters worse yes the thief could sue BB and win if he stubs his toe on BB premises. We are becoming an epic fail we need to stop the absurdness!

 

[phillipmeyers99]

If you take to the time to comapre prices you will see that best buy simply does not care about theft because they simply pass off the cost to the customers who actually pay for there items. The real crime is the prices they charge on some items. Hopefully this guy can get another job. Putting a hard working American out on the street is not a good thing.

 

[saint_craig]

Thank god some forward thinking states have enacted laws the basically state, that if you (criminal) are injured in the process of committing a crime you will have absolutely no recourse for any injuries suffered.

 

[jednx01]

That is one of the stupidest things I've ever heard. If he stopped the guy, he should get a promotion, not get fired. 🙁

 

[zerapio]

[citation][nom]obiown77[/nom]I really need to work on my grammer, lol[/citation]
Lesson 1, it's grammar and not grammer. Seriously, it helps to use the spell checker in your browser. At least FF has one.

 

[B-Unit]

"I'm gonna grab my friend and grab a 60" 3DTV tonight, well just pick it up, and slowly walk out. As everything is looking at take this TV, I will keep reminding them. STAY BACK EVERYONE!!!! COMPANY POLICY STATES YOU CAN NOT AND WILL NOT INTERFERE WITH MY THEFT OF THIS TV!!!!!!"

While I hope the idea is in jest, while the BB employees wont try to stop you, dont think for a second that they aren't going to call the police and hand over the surveillance tape with your face on it.

 

[Parrdacc]

[citation][nom]COLGeek[/nom]Hypothetical situation: The employee is seriously injured or killed while trying to stop a crime in progress.That same employee was aware of the non-interference policy but chose to ignore it. Is BB liable for the injury/death?This is the crux of the matter and why the policy exists. It is not a matter of "right" or "wrong". It is a legal matter. Businesses carry insurance for these situations and law enforcement has the responsibility to deal with the perpetrators . This is not for a BB employee to do.[/citation]

Legal matter or not, right is right and wrong is wrong, so the hell with legal matters. That is the problem today, everything is about policy and, as others of said, the way the laws of been misused by the very criminals they supposedly seek to deter. Crimes are starting to get more frequent, violent and brazen. While I would like to leave it up to law enforcement to deal with them, that is their job or so I am told, the fact remains they usually only get there after the fact. Not their fault, mind you, they are not mind readers or anything just the nature of the job. Having said that the nature of criminals has changed from what I see. The idea of do not put up a fight it is not worth potentially losing your life over it appears to becoming a mute point. Now the criminals will kill you just because, no matter if you fight or not. Store clerks getting shot even after they hand over the money and the same for various home invasions.

 

[jfor26]

not stopping the thief only encourages him to do it again and again and again. WE are a nation of wimp's who worry more about not offending anyone than doing the right thing.

 

[officeguy]

Well, if the thief was that bold to take something out of the store what if a few days later he robbed and killed somebody if this guy didn't stop him. I say fire the people who made up the policy!!!

 

[tsnorquist]

Too bad the thief didn't fall face first shattering the glass and severing his jugular vein.

I wonder if the employees would be liable for not giving him first aid if they aren't allowed to stop a crime in progress.

 

[Guest]

Best Buy is right; you don't risk your life, or that of others, for the sake of gaurding a corporations property. What if the man had a weapon? What if the threat of being caught turned it into a hostage situation? Best Buy is right to enforce this rule, as it actually does the employees a service. Can you imagine if they fired people for not catching/stopping armed gunmen?

 

[shqtth]

Best But ia stupid.

Drear Best Buy:
If you are going to fire Roger Kline, you should give him 1 month severance plus a free laptop, especially since you don't appreciate what he did.