Georgia Lowe’s job was fired after she tried to stop shoplifting crew from making off with $2,000 worth of goods
A Lowe employee has been fired from a Georgia store for intervening in a shoplifting operation that left her with a black eye.
Donna Hansbrough, 68, last month tried to stop a gang of shoplifters who made off with more than $2,000 worth of goods from her store in Rincon, Georgia.
The thieves quietly refused to go and repeatedly punched her in the face, giving her a black eye.
Despite her heroic efforts to stand up to the criminals, Hansbrough’s was fired after 13 years by Lowe’s for violating company policy that state employees who witness shoplifting must not intervene and instead call the authorities.
“The man decided he wanted to be let go, so he hit me and grabbed my glasses while I was still holding on to the wagon,” Hansbrough, who worked for Lowe’s for over thirteen years, recalled. WTOC.
Donna Hansbrough, 68, tried to stop a gang of shoplifters and was left with a bruised face and no job
“They say if you see someone stealing something out the door, not to chase, not to go out,” but “I just got tired of seeing things go out the door,” Hansbrough said
“He hit me over and over again,” she said, crying.
The suspects have been named by authorities as Takyah Berry, her uncle Joseph Berry and another man, Jarmar Lawton. Police say both Berrys are still on the loose.
“They say if you see someone steal something out the door, not to chase, not to go out,” Hansbrough told the Effingham Herald.
“I just got tired of seeing things go out the door. I actually lost all the workouts. Everything they tell you to do, I… I just lost it,” she explained.
“I didn’t expect to be fired, maybe reprimanded or suspended,” Hansbrough said. ‘I’m looking for a new job. I can’t sit at home. I’m not that kind of person.’
If the shoplifters are brought to justice, Hansbrough said she will help authorities with whatever they need: “If they need me, I’ll be there.”
Detective Vance of the Rincon Police Department said the employee “went through two traumatic events at the same time by being violently assaulted and losing her job, her happiness and her peace at the same time.”
Joseph Berry (pictured) and his niece have been named as suspects by the Rincon Police Department
Rincon police believe Takyah Berry (left) and Jarmar Lawton (right) were also involved in the incident
Lowes did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com’s request for comment.
It is the latest in a series of cases in the US in which employees have lost their jobs for intervening in shoplifting incidents.
In June, a King Soopers grocery store clerk in Colorado was fired for filming shoplifters stealing $500 worth of laundry detergent and loading it into their car.
Santino Burrola sprang into action when a group of thieves attacked the store in Arapahoe County, Colorado, on June 18, filming a now-viral video of the crime in action.
He chased the group out of the store and filmed them loading numerous boxes into their car, even peeling off a license plate to help track them down.
But his actions reportedly violated the store’s policy of confronting shoplifters, and Burrola was fired on the spot after meeting with his union representative.
The video of the shoplifters’ store clerk quickly gained prominence after he posted it on social media, and it was even shared by the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office as they continue to investigate the crime.
Burrola said that as soon as he saw the thieves leave with heaps of detergent, his “first instinct was to answer.”
Santino Burrola slammed King Soopers for firing him over the shoplifting video, saying ‘all I did was record criminals and expose them’
As he followed the men out of the store, Burrola was heard mocking the thieves and questioning their daring heist.
‘Really brother? Must you resort to this?’ he said in the video. “The economy isn’t that bad.”
The thugs then tried to drive away from Burrola as he continued to record nearby, causing him to tear off a tin foil to expose their license plate.
But the store took offense at his bold attempt, with Burrola saying parent company Kroger felt he violated their policies against employees intervening in thefts.
Lululemon has also been criticized for firing staff who confronted masked thieves at their Peachtree Corners store in Atlanta.
Two Lululemon employees were fired in May for “violating employee policies” after brazen thieves stole armfuls of expensive yoga gear and tried to stop them.
Shocking footage shows masked robbers removing merchandise from displays at the front of the store before running to their getaway car.
Jennifer Ferguson and Rachel Rogers, who worked at the front, claim they were let go because they tried to stop them and “violated the policy in the personnel handbook” not to interfere in a robbery.
Lululemon’s CEO later stood by the decision. “We have a zero-tolerance policy that we train our educators around being involved in a theft,” McDonald said CNBC. “It’s just merchandise.”
Shocking footage shows masked robbers taking merchandise from front displays of Lululemon store in Atlanta before running to their getaway car
Jennifer Ferguson (left) and Rachel Rogers were reportedly released for trying to stop the thieves and ‘violating the employee handbook policy’ of not interfering in a robbery
Stores in the US are experiencing a sharp rise in crime and some major retailers have been forced to close their stores due to multimillion-dollar losses as rampant theft plagues businesses.
By 2021, shoplifting will cost retailers $100 billion.
Stores in San Francisco, New York and many other metropolitan areas have been hit by an increase in shoplifting.
That has led retailers to lock up many items to prevent brazen thieves from looting merchandise and walking out of stores.