When a gas station employee came to the defense of co-worker during a robbery, he did not think he would end up fired and still unemployed.
Mark Beverly was true blue hero when he came to the defense of a co-worker who was being attacked by a robber. His action was in response to what he perceived was his female co-worker being subject to pain.
The robbery happened around 3 am and the whole incident was caught on camera. Beverly was cleaning the bathrooms when he heard his colleague scream, he came out of the bathroom and saw a man in roughing up his co-worker. That is when he went into action.
"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."
The robber gained back his composure and warned Beverly not to "be a hero," before fleeing the gas station with a mere $15.
In response to his bravery, Mark Beverly was fired by Marathon Petroleum Company. The Company cited a policy that employees should not "argue with, resist, or attack" the robber and to instead be cooperative. The policy was made to help save lives and to keep situations from escalating from robbery to murder.
Capt. Rick Mathwig of the Roseville Police Department agrees with the policy.
"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.
Upon review of the tapes, the female worker was not being attacked. Initial statements from both Beverly and the other worker do not collaborate the claim that the woman was being attacked.
Mark Beverly was fired in March and still has not found a job, he has also been denied unemployment benefits and is set to appeal that decision in June.
Fired for Being a Hero
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