Two employees at the Sprint outlet at Cherry Creek Shopping Center, where that iPad customer had his pinkie ripped off by a criminal earlier this month, were fired for chasing down and holding a different shoplifter one day later.

The men say they were starting their breaks when they heard the Apple store security guard, who they described as being in his mid-to-late-fifties, shout, “Help! Somebody stop that guy!” They saw a young guy run past with something in a jacket, so they chased him through Macy’s and into a parking garage, where they tackled him.

Before long, on-duty Denver cops and representatives of mall security had joined the crowd. As for the guard who’d been giving chase, he worked for the same Apple Store hit by Smith the previous day. The suspect allegedly grabbed several pieces of Apple software retailing for just over $500.

Shoemaker and McGee filled out paperwork for the mall and the police, accepted heartfelt congratulations for their quick thinking, and then returned to the Sprint store. About fifteen minutes had elapsed; their break was over.

Last week Sprint HQ started asking questions, and shortly thereafter terminated their employment, citing a policy that “employees shouldn’t confront thieves” and classifying their actions as employee misconduct.

“Sprint employees fired for capturing shoplifter” [Westworld] (Thanks to Adam!)

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