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ST. LOUIS, Mo. Two Starbucks baristas defended themselves as one was pistol-whipped during an armed robbery last month. The employees have since been fired. Now, one of them, who is going to school to become a paramedic, tells the unjust story of being terminated after police and local media lauded their actions during the frightening encounter.
Former Starbucks barista Michael Harrison, 20, chronicled his encounter for the New York Post. He said he was assigned to service drive-thru customers last month when two masked men entered the Starbucks where he worked in downtown St. Louis about noon. The menacing suspects ordered everyone to the ground while one of the perpetrators brandished what appeared to be a handgun .
There were roughly ten employees on duty and one customer inside the store. They all complied with the robbers demands and got on their stomachs. Many of them were terrorized and crying in fear, the aspiring paramedic noted.
Harrison was directed by one of the suspect’s to open the register. However, this was not possible since he did not have the managerial credentials to access cash.
Therefore, he asked his supervisor to get off the ground to open the till, but the manager froze and declined to do so, Harrison said.
One of the robbers began searching through pockets while his accomplice, later identified as Joshua Noe, smacked Harrison over the head with the weapon.
“At that point I thought he was going to shoot me,” Harrison told the news outlet.
One of his co-workers, identified as Devin Jones-Ransom, noticed a piece of the gun broke off and sensed the firearm was probably a replica.
As a result, Jones-Ransom began fighting with the assailants and Harrison came to his aid.
The brawl eventually wound up outside, and another individual from a nearby store jumped in to help the pair of baristas detain one of the robbers.
While the trio had Noe immobilized on the ground outside the store, his accomplice, later identified as Marquise Porter-Doyle, fled the scene.
Officers responding to the robbery found Porter-Doyle nearby and took him into custody, along with Noe.
Notably, Noe’s booking photo appears to show injuries that he sustained as he was taken into custody following his violent actions against the baristas.
Officers at the scene were impressed with the response taken by the baristas and the Good Samaritan, and thanked them for their courageous reaction to a frightening set of circumstances that facilitated the arrest.
However, Starbucks wasn’t quite as grateful, and placed the men on paid leave for two weeks as company officials investigated the incident, Harrison said.
Meanwhile, both young men were lauded in local media for their heroism, and each looked forward to returning to work, The Post reported.
“But I got a call a few weeks later,” Harrison said. “Once the media died down. They told me they were terminating me. I was surprised. I was distraught. I was confused.”
According to the Starbucks investigation, Harrison and Jones-Ransom had allegedly violated company policy, although specifics were not given, said Harrison’s attorney Ryan Krupp.
Harrison said he is now struggling to pay his bills and tuition. “That job was helping me pay for college,” he said. “I just don’t understand it. I thought it was the right thing to do.”
Krupp said a lawsuit is being prepared and will be filed in the next few weeks, according to the news outlet.
“When the robbers came in, my client complied and tried to open the cash register when he was struck in the head by one of the gunman,” Krupp emphasized. “At that point you’re in a position to defend yourself.”
A Starbucks spokesperson told The Post, “We were deeply disturbed to learn of this frightening incident. Partner safety is at the core of how we operate in our stores, and we are so grateful that our partners and customers did not come to greater harm in this situation.”
“In situations like this, our training and protocols guide our partners to comply and de-escalate, not just for their safety but for the safety of all in the store,” the spokesperson said.
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Source: www.lawofficer.com