Academy Sports Fires Manager for Stopping Gun Thief

[Tucker301]

What?!??!


Store Manager Intercepts Gun Thief. Two Weeks Later Store Fires Him Over It.

Tallahassee Police Department
ByHANK BERRIEN
July 12, 2018
In late June, a sporting goods store employee in Tallahassee, Florida, detained a man who was in the process of allegedly stealing a gun.
On Tuesday he was fired over the incident.
The Tallahassee Democrat reports that on June 29, Dean Crouch, 32, was working as an assistant manager at the Academy Sports store in Tallahassee when suspect Jason White allegedly tried to steal a .40 caliber handgun and matching ammunition. According to the Tallahassee Police Department, only hours before his attempt at Academy Sports, White stole two handguns from Cash America Pawn.
The Tallahassee Democrat states that White asked to look at the handgun at the firearms counter; when he was given the gun, he fled toward the front door, where he was tackled and subdued by Crouch and another employee. White was held in an office until police arrived; according to the Tallahassee Democrat, he admitted to stealing the gun and threatened to shoot people with it.
Crouch’s attorney, Ryan Hobbs, told Fox News that Crouch, who is married with two young children, was prompted to act by other employees yelling "stop that guy." his attorney, Ryan Hobbs, told Fox News. Hobbs claims Crouch was placed on suspension after the incident because of a store policy that bars employees from placing their hands on customers while they’re in the store.
Hobbs noted after Crouch was fired on Tuesday that Crouch had been “suspended and terminated for preventing this thief from stealing this weapon.” He told the Tallahassee Democrat, “Academy has decided to, instead of treating him like a hero he is, they terminated his employment effective immediately because he put his hands on Mr. White.” Hobbs said Crouch and his wife had to put their home up for sale as “a direct result of him losing his job at Academy Sports.” Hobbs concluded, “They’re just scared.”
Crouch hasn’t filed a lawsuit; he is busy looking for a new job. Hobbs said of Academy Sports, “My instincts tell me they are concerned more about people like Mr. White suing them for being stopped in the course of a theft than they are about rewarding or acknowledging in a positive manner that Mr. Crouch may have saved lives … This is not something that happens for Mr. Crouch in his everyday life. I think he was thinking there is a man running out of the store with a gun in his hand with his coworkers following from the firearm area screaming ‘Stop that man.’ Something had to be done and he was the one that was going to do it.”

 

[lash]

Un-freaking-believable! A perfect example of how a corporate HR policy, being completely inflexible as is usual, defies common sense.

 

[Tucker301]

Since when is a thief a "customer"?

"Our office are currently closed for phone calls"
https://www.academy.com/shop/en/store/corporate-contact-us

 

[sirhrmechanic]

Out of curiosity... where are the federal charges against the perp... when is he going to be in federal custody for felony firearms violations? How many years is he going to get? Oh, wait, no... he'll get no fine, time served and sent back on the street.

Look at the smile on that POS... he knows that he'll Dindu Nuffin to the judge... and walk. "Oh ya hona... I was just walking over to try it in a holster..."

While a great American has his life ruined. Hopefully there is some good business out there who will hire Dean Crouch... and that Academy Sports files Chapter 11 soon.

Sirhr

 

[_Windrider_]

I saw this. Fucking ridiculous.

 

[2ndamendfan]

While anyone with any brain power can see this is utter bullshit, I have a secret to tell you.

Most corporations do not allow the apprehension/confrontation of a thief.

I have a customer who is the manager of a Lowe's store. Loss prevention is his biggest headache. Employees are not allowed to stop a thief.
You can walk in, fill a cart with tools (his biggest loss) and walk right out. Buzzers going off at the door and no one will stop you. There is at time a "loss prevention specialist" on the property at times but not often.
He is the only one who is authorized to stop someone and he must keep "eyes on target" 100% of the time. If he looses contact with thief for even a second (like thief going into bathroom stall) then thief wins.

The loss prevention specialist normally has some kind of LEO background.

They do try and get plates. They turn a lot over to local LEO but not much comes of it.

 

[SEMO Shooter]

Dick's made it to my no go list a few years ago, Academy will be added.

 

[Arc Light]

Scumbag BLM member no doubt, another innocent "angel" just minding his own business.

If he ever decides to give up his life of crime, he'll have a bright future in the Democrat party I'm sure.

 

[Fig]

Scumbag BLM member no doubt, another innocent "angel" just minding his own business.

If he ever decides to give up his life of crime, he'll have a bright future in the Democrat party I'm sure.

Fixed it for you.

 

[Sean the Nailer]

Crouch should be honored, and academy sports should be bankrupted and razed. I'll even go as far as to say that the White family should be vilified, as they have OBVIOUSLY failed at parenting.

 

[Nik H]

This is the shit that makes my blood boil....

I look at this and truly don't understand the decision making process employed by some executives. If he worked for me, he would have been promoted and given a bonus

 

[W54/XM-388]

It's time to start demanding with our phone calls that the vile corporate suit that decided this be named.
Time to hold the those corporate suits individually responsible for the evil they do, no hiding behind their "HR department".
Then we can have fun seeing how they like it when we hound them out of a job as corporate washes their hands of them even faster.

 

[Jethro3898]

A co-worker was telling me this story just yesterday.
I have a feeling this store manager will have dozens of job opportunities making 2-3 times what he made at Academy before the month is out.

Think about it guys: he was unarmed and chased down someone with a firearm. He likely heard the shouts from across the store to "stop him" and didn't know if the weapon was loaded or not. That takes balls and I'd bet there are a multitude of companies in TLH that would be happy to have him on their team.

 

[Alphatreedog]

Just read this b******* article said they let this a****** out and he is on supervised release . Yeah he's either released or he's not total b******* should still be locked up. . Scumbag stole a pistol ammunition and two magazines .Mother fucker told police he's going to shoot someone several times . Also said you'll see me on tv just you wait and see . Well there is your justice . If that were me I'd be on ice for two years waiting on a fuckin trial . Then Id probably get 5 for mandatory firearm offense and 3 for good measure . Enforce the fuckin laws you fuckin asaholes .

 

[W54/XM-388]

Just read this b******* article said they let this a****** out and he is on supervised release . Yeah he's either released or he's not total b******* should still be locked up. . Scumbag stole a pistol ammunition and two magazines .Mother fucker told police he's going to shoot someone several times . Also said you'll see me on tv just you wait and see . Well there is your justice . If that were me I'd be on ice for two years waiting on a fuckin trial . Then Id probably get 5 for mandatory firearm offense and 3 for good measure . Enforce the fuckin laws you fuckin asaholes .

Perhaps maybe the courts and LE in Florida are working for the antis & trying to make it easy for the next shooter?

You know, go grab guns from some guy who is a bit upset but no big threat, make a big fanfare of it.
Then of course, someone caught red handed stealing guns & ammo and stating he is going to go out and do a bunch of killing... let him go of course.

The LE and courts down there have got to be bought and paid for by Soros and company, there is no way they could all be that stupid is there?

 

[45.308]

I know a thing or 2 about this and this is how things are, corporations and their policies are dictated by insurance / lawyers for fear of law suits. Its not so much the corporation but they are told by their insurance companies and the manufactures of the product to put this policy in place to show the company is trying to fix a customer compliant / possible litigation or lose their insurance, their company lawyers agree. So a customer comes in and slices his finger, tries to open a clam shell package to get his hands on the product for what ever reason, its obvious some times that the customer was hid in an area trying to steal the product. The customer slices his finger and bleeds a little, direct pressure and a band aid fixes the cut. A customer injury report is filled out, sent to HR who partners with insurance company that they may be responsible to pay the customers Dr bills for s cut finger. The customer injury report is sent to the manufactures who also lets their insurance company / lawyers know possible ligation is coming. So, to show the company / manufacture are trying to correct this customer safety issue that claims clam shells are a hazard to customers, a policy is put in place that signs must be posted customers cannot open packages, clam shell type packages must be doubled or triple sealed, from the factory then stapled or heat seal sealed by the company. Now when the customer comes with a law suite, the corp and manufacture can show yes this was an issue and we fixed this hazard. Now when the balance sheet comes out their is a $400--$500 per hour lawyer fee, average is 8 hours that the store has to pay their company lawyer to come up with this and protect the company / store. Big city boxes store can have one of this events a week, and yes guess who pays for this, the customer as prices must go up, less discounts, less sale items, a whole host of reasons to gain profit on their balanced sheet through product margins they have to re-coop to pay invoices and their employees. If the box store sells guns and such, anti lawyers just salivate over this and come swinging hard at the corp and manufactures.

Look around next time you are shopping and when you see some sign like this or hear of a policy like this, something happened to cause that sign to be posted and policy in place, do not blame the store but these customers and lawyers.

 

[W54/XM-388]

I know a thing or 2 about this and this is how things are, corporations and their policies are dictated by insurance / lawyers for fear of law suits. Its not so much the corporation but they are told by their insurance companies and the manufactures of the product to put this policy in place to show the company is trying to fix a customer compliant / possible litigation or lose their insurance, their company lawyers agree. So a customer comes in and slices his finger, tries to open a clam shell package to get his hands on the product for what ever reason, its obvious some times that the customer was hid in an area trying to steal the product. The customer slices his finger and bleeds a little, direct pressure and a band aid fixes the cut. A customer injury report is filled out, sent to HR who partners with insurance company that they may be responsible to pay the customers Dr bills for s cut finger. The customer injury report is sent to the manufactures who also lets their insurance company / lawyers know possible ligation is coming. So, to show the company / manufacture are trying to correct this customer safety issue that claims clam shells are a hazard to customers, a policy is put in place that signs must be posted customers cannot open packages, clam shell type packages must be doubled or triple sealed, from the factory then stapled or heat seal sealed by the company. Now when the customer comes with a law suite, the corp and manufacture can show yes this was an issue and we fixed this hazard. Now when the balance sheet comes out their is a $400--$500 per hour lawyer fee, average is 8 hours that the store has to pay their company lawyer to come up with this and protect the company / store. Big city boxes store can have one of this events a week, and yes guess who pays for this, the customer as prices must go up, less discounts, less sale items, a whole host of reasons to gain profit on their balanced sheet through product margins they have to re-coop to pay invoices and their employees. If the box store sells guns and such, anti lawyers just salivate over this and come swinging hard at the corp and manufactures.

Look around next time you are shopping and when you see some sign like this or hear of a policy like this, something happened to cause that sign to be posted and policy in place, do not blame the store but these customers and lawyers.

Have these corporate lawyers ever thought about their liability if it can be shown they let somebody steal a gun and ammunition from their store and walk out with it & didn't attempt to stop them at all and then that gun and ammunition was used to kill a bunch of people?

 

[Sean the Nailer]

I know a thing or 2 about this and this is how things are, corporations and their policies are dictated by insurance / lawyers for fear of law suits. Its not so much the corporation but they are told by their insurance companies and the manufactures of the product to put this policy in place to show the company is trying to fix a customer compliant / possible litigation or lose their insurance, their company lawyers agree. So a customer comes in and slices his finger, tries to open a clam shell package to get his hands on the product for what ever reason, its obvious some times that the customer was hid in an area trying to steal the product. The customer slices his finger and bleeds a little, direct pressure and a band aid fixes the cut. A customer injury report is filled out, sent to HR who partners with insurance company that they may be responsible to pay the customers Dr bills for s cut finger. The customer injury report is sent to the manufactures who also lets their insurance company / lawyers know possible ligation is coming. So, to show the company / manufacture are trying to correct this customer safety issue that claims clam shells are a hazard to customers, a policy is put in place that signs must be posted customers cannot open packages, clam shell type packages must be doubled or triple sealed, from the factory then stapled or heat seal sealed by the company. Now when the customer comes with a law suite, the corp and manufacture can show yes this was an issue and we fixed this hazard. Now when the balance sheet comes out their is a $400--$500 per hour lawyer fee, average is 8 hours that the store has to pay their company lawyer to come up with this and protect the company / store. Big city boxes store can have one of this events a week, and yes guess who pays for this, the customer as prices must go up, less discounts, less sale items, a whole host of reasons to gain profit on their balanced sheet through product margins they have to re-coop to pay invoices and their employees. If the box store sells guns and such, anti lawyers just salivate over this and come swinging hard at the corp and manufactures.

Look around next time you are shopping and when you see some sign like this or hear of a policy like this, something happened to cause that sign to be posted and policy in place, do not blame the store but these customers and lawyers.

"First thing we do, let's kill ALL of the lawyers."

Who was that extremely smart, wise, intelligent, mature, adept, responsible, logical, and forthright individual whom said that, again? Fore-seeing mantra, right there!

 

[FS1]

If he steals a gun today, kills someone tonight, then dies in a gun battle with the Po Po tomorrow. The Cop's life will be ruined and they will build a monument in the hood where gun grabber died.

If a guy stealing a gun can't be touched. Then it's a sad place we are at.

 

[Alphatreedog]

Everyone who lives in Florida needs to call the State AG and demand action . Your tax dollars pay for a criminal justice system that is supposed to handle shit just like this . It is a shame that there is not direct route for declaring malfeasance and having a chief , sheriff or AG removed . If this is the response to an obvious threat to society then how thw fuck do you not just default to street justice . If the SCOTUS declared that police are not obligated to protect you and the police and prosecutors let these feral motherfuckers walk amongst us how aggghhhhh .

 

[lash]

The answer is always that you don't protect the citizens by violating the rights of felonious criminals, you do it by removing and further restricting the rights of law-abiding citizens to own the means to protect themselves. It makes perfect sense...

 

[Srgt. Hulka]

 

[sirhrmechanic]

I understand non-confrontation policies... but it's a different matter when someone is heading for the door with a firearm!

Garner v. Tennessee makes it unlawful for an officer to use deadly force on a fleeing suspect... UNLESS that suspect may be headed out to do immediate harm... ie. You can't shoot someone in the back running away. If the person has a loaded gun, just committed a felony and is running into a school full of kids and there is a reasonable possibility that he may cause bodily harm to others in the school.. well, then back-shooting is just fine to stop the threat.

When someone is leaving your store with a deadly weapon... your stupid corporate policies are out the window. And we aren't talking 'shooting' a fleeing suspect. We are talking about detaining him for LE. This could not be a more clear-cut case of a $#@!ing Hero at their store getting hosed.

UNLESS Academy stockholders are willing to pay for the damages of anyone who was injured by the 'un-stopped handgun' and if their management can be held criminally-responsible for putting a gun in the hands of a sierra-bravo... then their policy is stupid. If the guy was stealing batteries or a pair of gloves... well, that's one thing. This is a deadly weapon. A handgun. By a felon. With a record of stealing handguns. He should have a medal and a bonus.

This firing is appalling. Academy needs to hire this guy back, give him a promotion and pay his mortgage in full for making him suffer.

What a bunch of asswipes.

Sirhr

 

[Strykervet]

Yeah but you're all leaving out one thing: it's not theft until he leaves the premises. I can go to any store I like, fill my pockets and walk around and all the employees can follow me. I can go right up to the front door. But as long as I don't cross that threshold with unpaid for merchandise, it's all good. No crime. And if you touch me in the store, that's assault. If you prevent me from leaving, that's wrongful detention.

But I've seen a guy get fuckslammed in front of K-mart. They let him pass the door... Then BAM! People came out of the woodwork to tackle him.

Pretty sure there are also youtube videos of this.

Federal law... What, conspiracy? What firearms law was broken? Unless he was a felon I don't think any were. The transfer isn't complete. That he stole weapons from a store previously but wasn't charged or convicted is non-sequitur to this event. That he was accosted and illegally detained are.

Of course everything in America is illegal so I'm sure they'll figure something out and then they'll both be fucked.

Edit: don't get me wrong here, I'm with you guys, just pointing out a fact, which is probably the reason for all this and why it took two weeks to fire him.

 

[hlee]

Strykervet, while you may be correct (and I’m not sure I would fill my pockets in any store and expect to not get detained) I’m not sure this is the beach from which I would wage this war.

 

[Decoy]

All I can say about it is.........

I know where I getting my next pistol!

 

[Strykervet]

Strykervet, while you may be correct (and I’m not sure I would fill my pockets in any store and expect to not get detained) I’m not sure this is the beach from which I would wage this war.

Hey, I didn't say I agree with the thief. And it's not my beach, no, I'm just a "war correspondent" if you will.

Turns out it's more complicated and jurisdictional than I thought.

Willing to bet the store got wind of the suit or their lawyer warned 'em. I don't think they'd fire him "just because" otherwise.

 

[FS1]

Seeing that those firearms are secured in the store and can only be handled with CSR present. I would say a good lawyer could make the case that the gun was stolen once it left the secure area of the store and its reps custody.

 

[Tucker301]

Here's what bothers me about stories like this.
If this was a social justice issue, like say the Starbucks buy something or leave incident, the media wouldn't let it go for weeks. But since it's a simple doing the right thing in the public interest thing, and it involves someone actually dealing with a criminal properly, the story never made it anywhere outside of our closed circles like this place.

How do we fix that?
How do we fix that we have a handful of Conservative publishers and maybe one broadcaster to go against the seemingly endless supply of left leaning media outlets that smother stories like this and prop up bullshit that serves their agenda?

 

[lash]

Here's what bothers me about stories like this.
If this was a social justice issue, like say the Starbucks buy something or leave incident, the media wouldn't let it go for weeks. But since it's a simple doing the right thing in the public interest thing, and it involves someone actually dealing with a criminal properly, the story never made it anywhere outside of our closed circles like this place.

How do we fix that?
How do we fix that we have a handful of Conservative publishers and maybe one broadcaster to go against the seemingly endless supply of left leaning media outlets that smother stories like this and prop up bullshit that serves their agenda?

That is very much a glaring question that stories like this bring to light. I have not given much thought to it, so do not have any great ideas right now, but this is exactly how the larger issue must be approached. Identify the root cause, in this case the lack of exposure for this type of problem, and work towards identifying a corrective action or actions.

 

[W54/XM-388]

Yeah but you're all leaving out one thing: it's not theft until he leaves the premises. I can go to any store I like, fill my pockets and walk around and all the employees can follow me. I can go right up to the front door. But as long as I don't cross that threshold with unpaid for merchandise, it's all good. No crime. And if you touch me in the store, that's assault. If you prevent me from leaving, that's wrongful detention.
But I've seen a guy get fuckslammed in front of K-mart. They let him pass the door... Then BAM! People came out of the woodwork to tackle him.
Pretty sure there are also youtube videos of this.
Federal law... What, conspiracy? What firearms law was broken? Unless he was a felon I don't think any were. The transfer isn't complete. That he stole weapons from a store previously but wasn't charged or convicted is non-sequitur to this event. That he was accosted and illegally detained are.
Of course everything in America is illegal so I'm sure they'll figure something out and then they'll both be fucked.
Edit: don't get me wrong here, I'm with you guys, just pointing out a fact, which is probably the reason for all this and why it took two weeks to fire him.

It all depends on who decides to prosecute the case.
If you happen to be a normal law abiding citizen that steps over some imaginary line some bureaucrat has decided to make that day, the government seems to get endlessly creative in charging you... funny how that doesn't seem to happen with deserving criminals nearly as much.

The criminal had just grabbed a deadly weapon that he was not legally allowed to possess and was directly trying to escape the location which could be reasonably interpreted as a public safety emergency requiring immediate intervention. He was also now an armed gunman acting in a manner that would cause alarm to a reasonable person.

If he had a criminal record sufficient to be not allowed to legally own firearms (most likely he is if you look into it enough) he was a criminal in possession of both a firearm and ammunition the moment he started to run away from the counter with it, (as it was under his control and on his person) where are the Feds with all their charges they love to pile on to normal citizens when they have such an easy case right here?

The police shoot people regularly for things way less cut and dry than that and don't get a slap on the wrist, so I'm pretty sure if somebody wanted to actually prosecute criminals instead of turning them back on the street it would be a no brainier.

Someone running out of the store with a toaster is very different as it's a simple matter of theft with almost no public danger, however a criminal grabbing a gun and ammunition is an immediate threat to life & public safety (just ask the police how trigger happy they are if faced with someone who might have a gun even if none are ever found on them).

 

[EddieNFL]

What firearms law was broken?

Brandishing...at least where I live.

 

[Tucker301]

Law dictates that any firearm purchased must be properly documented and background checks performed. As soon as the shit stain took off from the supervised counter area with the gun and ammo, his intent to violate statutes was evident, not to mention his declarations to go out and kill people with it.

 

[Steel+Killer]

I bet Palmetto State Armory would hire him in a second!

 

[KeithR41]

Yeah but you're all leaving out one thing: it's not theft until he leaves the premises. I can go to any store I like, fill my pockets and walk around and all the employees can follow me. I can go right up to the front door. But as long as I don't cross that threshold with unpaid for merchandise, it's all good. No crime. And if you touch me in the store, that's assault. If you prevent me from leaving, that's wrongful detention.

But I've seen a guy get fuckslammed in front of K-mart. They let him pass the door... Then BAM! People came out of the woodwork to tackle him.

Pretty sure there are also youtube videos of this.

Federal law... What, conspiracy? What firearms law was broken? Unless he was a felon I don't think any were. The transfer isn't complete. That he stole weapons from a store previously but wasn't charged or convicted is non-sequitur to this event. That he was accosted and illegally detained are.

Of course everything in America is illegal so I'm sure they'll figure something out and then they'll both be fucked.

Edit: don't get me wrong here, I'm with you guys, just pointing out a fact, which is probably the reason for all this and why it took two weeks to fire him.

While I mostly agree with this, you’re leaving out one very important element to the crime. Intent. Which really is all that is needed to arrest and convict. And if the suspect took of “running” toward the exit then intent is easily proveable. Unless he just wanted to see what happened if he ran, that just makes him a complete dumbass!!

41

 

[lash]

^^^^

 

[Baron23]

Dick's made it to my no go list a few years ago, Academy will be added.

Yep, me too.

 

[Thorny]

My local GS is under investigation for making a mistake by writing down the wrong date for the purchase of a gun. One day off from date of actual purchase.
But go ahead and let thiefs have as many as they want, and fire an employee for trying to stop it.

 

[502Chevelle]

Nothing like responding to a quote that is four years old...I think I did it today also, but mine was only two years old