We’ve gotten multiple tips from readers expressing disgust at Safeway, after an employee in California was suspended without pay for intervening in a domestic assault situation inside the store. The police called the worker a hero for stopping a man from hitting his pregnant girlfriend.

CBS 5 in San Francisco says Ryan, a meat clerk at a Safeway in the Monterey area, was going about his job when he saw a man beating his girlfriend, who is six months pregnant.

“Every few seconds he would turn around and push her and then he actually kicked her,” Ryan said. “I told him to calm down and he was just irate.”

He added that the man refused to stop, so he jumped in to break it up.

“I saw no one was intervening in the situation and I just became afraid for her safety and also other customers’ safety,” he said. “The guy was out of control and pretty much lost it in there.”

The chief of police said if the employee hadn’t done what he did, things could’ve been worse for the victim. Despite that, Ryan was suspended without pay from Safeway for violating company policy.

“We understand about policy, but at some point someone has to do something. And in my mind, in this case Ryan did the right thing,” said the police chief.

Ryan has no income and his wife is five months pregnant, but he doesn’t regret what he did.

“How many people have been injured, murdered, whatever in front of everyone because everyone looks the other way and no one wants to get involved?” he said.

A manager at a Safeway store in San Francisco told the news station that employees are supposed to contact store security or a manager if they see a conflict inside the store.

*Thanks to all our tipsters!

Monterey County Safeway Worker Suspended After Stopping Assault [CBS 5 San Francisco]

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