No good deed…

**sensitiveguy** · 05-21-2008, 07:52 AM

May 20, 2008
AP

An act of bravery to defend a co-worker has cost a Minnesota gas-station attendant his job.

Mark Beverly, an overnight shift supervisor at a SuperAmerica in Roseville, Minn., was fired in March after he jumped on a masked robber who he believed was attacking a fellow employee.

SuperAmerica said he violated company policy when he came to his colleague's aid in the early morning of March 26. So instead of accolades, Beverly got the boot.

Adding insult to injury, Beverly — who is still looking for another job — has been denied unemployment benefits. He will appeal that decision on June 5.

The trouble began around 3 a.m. when Beverly was cleaning the bathroom and his female co-worker was behind the cash register. Beverly said he heard her scream, so he ran out and saw a robber wearing a blue-stocking cap jostling with her.

"It looked like he was hurting her, so I jumped on him," Beverly said. "I just tried to bang him on the counter a couple of times."

After a tussle, he said, the robber regained his footing and looked as if he was going to pull out a weapon. Beverly said the man told him, "Don't be a hero," before fleeing the store with about $15.

Beverly called police and reviewed security tapes with his managers before completing his shift. "Everything was fine," he said.

The next day, however, he was fired for violating company policy.

Marathon Petroleum Company, the owner of the SuperAmerica chain, said Beverly was told what to do in the company handbook — which advises employees to "cooperate: don't argue, resist or attack the robber" — and through a computer-based training program Beverly was required to complete when he was hired.

"He endangered himself and her, and that’s why we have the policy," said Linda Casey, a Marathon spokeswoman. "And we have enforced it with other employees, not just with him."

"I just thought it was wrong, that's all," said Beverly, who had worked at SuperAmerica for just over a year. "You're not really trained for a robbery, and that was the first robbery I have ever been in in my life."

Capt. Rick Mathwig of the Roseville Police Department said authorities advise people not to take action when faced with a robbery.

"When you start resisting at some way shape or form, the suspect who may not have intended on using the weapon that he or she came with may use it intentionally or unintentionally when faced with a conflict," he said.

Roseville police have listed the case as inactive as they have not been able to identify the robber. The only image of him is partial profile and his face is obscured by the stocking cap, Mathwig said.

The security tape did not show the female co-worker struggling with the robber over the cash-register drawer, Casey said.

"The female employee was never attacked," she said. The robber reached in and grabbed cash out of the drawer.

"We have a statement from both [Beverly] and the female employee," Casey said. "Neither one of them say anything about her being attacked, hurt or anything, and the video we have substantiates it."

Beverly said that from his vantage point, he thought she was being attacked.

"With both of them so close it looked — from the angle that I was at — it looked like she was being attacked," he said.

**sensitiveguy** · 05-21-2008, 07:54 AM

That’s right no good deed goes unpunished. LOL

Maybe it’s just me but I think most men would have tried to defend a female co-worker if he thought she was in trouble.

**sensitiveguy** · 05-21-2008, 08:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sensitiveguy

Marathon Petroleum Company, the owner of the SuperAmerica chain, said Beverly was told what to do in the company handbook — which advises employees to "cooperate: don't argue, resist or attack the robber"

You know, this kinda reminds me of the scene in Set it Off after the bank robbery when Frankie was asked “What’s the procedure when someone puts a gun to your head?” Oh, and she was fired, too. LOL

**TUCKER** · 05-21-2008, 12:21 PM

Quote:

Maybe it’s just me

IT IS, ITS JUST YOU!

Quote:

I think most men would have tried to defend a female co-worker if he thought she was in trouble.

Perhaps under other circumstances. In a situation like this, I think most men would've done what Mark should've done, stay/ed in the bathroom until it was over, especially since she wasn't being physically accosted. She'd been trained on procedure in a robbery I guess, Gon give em the dough so they can go, and it seemed like thats what she did.

Look at it this way. After banging the guy's head on the counter and stuff, he still got away, he got away with $15 (the dollar amt doesn't even matter), and he told Mark "not to be a hero." So what did Mark accomplish out of the whole thing that was positive? Unless the girl gave him some twaat for saving her, he got nothing out of the deal. In fact it cost him because he lost his job, probably sustained some injuries himself from the tussel and the robber might just remember him some dark and lonely evening.

No, I'm just yankin yo chain S G. I aint trying to sound like that other guy, you know cc/oops excuse me I'm not callin no names(LMAO), yeah, but him. One has to be in a situation like this to know what one would do. Its easy to speculate from the safety of the living room, but until you find yourself there, theres no telling what you might do.

Remember FRANK WILLS? He was the security guard that found the door ajar at the WATERGATE HOTEL. He reported it and the Watergate scandal was born. He was fired less than one month after the incident and he still hasn't recovered economically to date.

Remember how the 'GOOD SAMARITAN LAW' came into being? A drunk laying on a park bench. An overzealous person fresh out of CPR trng sees him, thinks hes in some medical difficulty, starts chest compressions and performing CPR. The drunk's collar bone is broken in the process and he sues the lady hero and wins a huge award! Hes still living large!

**cc5k** · 05-21-2008, 10:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sensitiveguy

Maybe it’s just me but I think most men would have tried to defend a female co-worker if he thought she was in trouble.

If she was being attacked, yes. But she wasn't. The article says the video even showed that she was not attacked or in any struggle with him.

If I saw a burglar attacking someone, I would help. If I saw him filling up a sack with cash from the register while everyone was backed up with their hands in the air, I would probably stay back too (and call the cops).

**sensitiveguy** · 05-22-2008, 07:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cc5k

The article says the video even showed that she was not attacked or in any struggle with him.

CC, the article also says he heard her scream and from where he stood it looked like she was being attacked. The brotha did the right thing by trying to help and I hope he gets his job back.

**sensitiveguy** · 05-22-2008, 08:03 AM

Now, this is a similar story that happened a few days ago. The report didn't say she was being attacked but let's assume she was. Fellas, I just wanna know if you're gonna hide in the closet or act like a hero?

One of the two employees inside the store quickly found a hiding place, but the other employee found herself alone and staring down the barrel of a gun. The robbery happened at Carmelo's Food Mart on Rio Grande Avenue early Monday morning.

It was a frightening moment for two convenience store clerks in Orange County. Around 2:00am Monday two men with guns and masks stormed into the small store on Rio Grande and Oak Ridge Road and demanded money.

"The female clerk is very shaken up. The male clerk, he was in the back of the store, so he wasn’t directly confronted by any of the suspects," said Sgt. James Sykes of the Orange County Sheriffs Office.

Deputies said the terrified male employee locked himself in a room located in the back of the store and waited until the robbers got what they wanted. Investigators said the gunmen took off on foot with an undisclosed amount of cash.

Detectives say they have a few pieces of solid evidence to work with, including surveillance video of the entire crime taking place. They said the video may be released later Monday.

Deputies said the area near Orange Blossom Trail has been relatively quiet lately.

A K-9 unit was able to trail the suspects for nearly a half-mile, but lost the scent near Tampa Avenue.

**cc5k** · 05-22-2008, 10:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sensitiveguy

CC, the article also says he heard her scream and from where he stood it looked like she was being attacked. The brotha did the right thing by trying to help and I hope he gets his job back.

I'm sure she did scream... lol! What would most women do when their getting robbed? But he wasn't helping anything. There was no struggle and the video verified that.

It sounds like he tried to play hero against better judgement.

**BlackVoice01** · 06-02-2008, 02:08 PM

Thats interesting.

**jaypeesmith** · 06-02-2008, 06:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sensitiveguy

CC, the article also says he heard her scream and from where he stood it looked like she was being attacked. The brotha did the right thing by trying to help and I hope he gets his job back.

I'm with you on this one. The video camera's recording and his vantage point could have been from totally different places. What about what she could have done? She could have stepped back and let the guy at the register, instead of struggling with him.

Also, having working in a gas station before, the training you get on this is a brief, staged video. Mostly, they are teaching you about making regular cash drops in the safe so you don't have too much money in the drawer when the robber shoots you.

**cc5k** · 06-02-2008, 11:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaypeesmith

I'm with you on this one. The video camera's recording and his vantage point could have been from totally different places. What about what she could have done? She could have stepped back and let the guy at the register, instead of struggling with him.

This was in sg's original post:

The security tape did not show the female co-worker struggling with the robber over the cash-register drawer, Casey said.

"The female employee was never attacked," she said. The robber reached in and grabbed cash out of the drawer.

Quote:

Also, having working in a gas station before, the training you get on this is a brief, staged video. Mostly, they are teaching you about making regular cash drops in the safe so you don't have too much money in the drawer when the robber shoots you.

True. Anyone who has worked a minimum wage job can probably relate to that on some level.

**huggylowdown** · 06-03-2008, 01:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cc5k

This was in sg's original post:

The security tape did not show the female co-worker struggling with the robber over the cash-register drawer, Casey said.

"The female employee was never attacked," she said. The robber reached in and grabbed cash out of the drawer.

True. Anyone who has worked a minimum wage job can probably relate to that on some level.

he said what he saw from where he stood. u need 2 learn 2 read broham. lol

**cc5k** · 06-04-2008, 12:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by huggylowdown

he said what he saw from where he stood. u need 2 learn 2 read broham. lol

Yeah, that's convenient. Sorry if I'm being too harsh on the guy here, but I'm going to go with what actually happened instead of what he supposedly saw. Video cameras don't lie broham.