Army veteran fired from Home Depot after trying to stop shoplifters

A 70-year-old veteran said he lost his job after he tried to stop some thieves from leaving the Texas Home Depot store where he worked. According to commentators, it appeared, what he saw as doing the right thing was against company policy.

According to Jim Tinney trying to the right thing had served him quite well in life.

''In the Army, they train you to do things like that,'' FOX News reported quoting Tinney.

Tinney said, he saw three men, who seemed nervous, carrying tool sets worth thousands of dollars to the checkout area at Home Depot.

''One of them hollered 'let's go,' and they all grabbed their kits and started heading out,'' Tinney said.

He added, without thinking, he tossed the paint roller extension he was holding, and ran to stop one of the men.

''I just automatically went like this and threw the stick at their feet,'' Tinney said.

The men got away but two weeks later when he thought it was over, he was fired.

A spokesman for Home Depot said in a statement, ''We have a strict policy that only our trained security personnel can pursue and engage shoplifters. We've had deaths and serious injury over the years, and no amount of merchandise is more important than the safety of our associates and customers.''

The Army veteran admitted to having violated employment training but believed Home Depot responded harshly by firing him.

''I think they could have written me up, reprimanded me, but terminate me? That's pretty strong,'' he told ABC13. ''I'm 70 years old. I need to work. I needed that job. I enjoyed working with customers figuring out what they wanted to do. It's fun.''