If you work at Best Buy, don’t tackle any knife-wielding shoplifters or you’ll be fired. That’s what happened to two Best Buy employees who chased a couple shoplifters who were fleeing with armloads of merchandise towards a waiting car.

From the Bloomfield Enterprise:

Bergstreser tackled and attempted to pin one of the men to the ground. Trapp came to Bergstreser’s aid before the suspect drew a knife, the fired employees and the Broomfield police report said.

A manager also was involved in the fracas and was cut by the suspect. She was not fired.

The suspect broke free, and both men fled from the FlatIron Marketplace parking lot in an old light-green Pontiac sedan driven by a woman.

One of the fired employees says he knew that he wasn’t supposed to touch customers (a policy that is designed to prevent the company from being sued) — even ones who were running away with armloads of hard drives. The other says he was never given the relevant training.

“They would tell us how to do the everyday routine stuff. As for actually ever handling a situation (with a fleeing shoplifter), there was never any role-playing, never any instructions,” Trapp said. “They kind of left us in a gray area, and I think they did it intentionally,”

We understand why this happens, but we think its really sad.

Employees involved in shoplifting fracas fired from Best Buy [Bloomfield Enterprise]
(Photo:frankieleon)

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.