No good deed goes unpunished. Ask Joe Morici, an Army veteran who attempted to stop two suspects from robbing a Beltsville, Maryland CVS on February 26, 2015.
The two attempted to rob the pharmacy managed by Morici, whose seven years of Army service included a tour in Afghanistan. He told the cashiers to call 911, helped an elderly man exit the store, and then locked the front door to prevent the two robbers from leaving. When they ran into the door, Morici confronted them. Chick Hernandez, an eyewitness, told Fox 5 News how Morici called their bluff.
“Joe got one of them,” Hernandez said. “The kid, he said to his partner, ‘Shoot him.’Then Joe said, ‘I’ve been in the military far too long. You don’t have anything.'” Morici was right. All they had was a screwdriver.
“I don’t really know that they didn’t really have one,” the former soldier said. “I just kind of assumed.” He wrested the tool from the men, but they eventually escaped. The real trouble started when Morici’s boss arrived on the scene to terminate Morici’s job because of his actions.
“My boss, when he came in to deliver the news, he was sick to his stomach,” Morici said. “He didn’t have a choice.”
In a statement to FOX5, CVS said it would “not comment on specific security procedures or polices as we do not want to undermine them.”
Morici received many job offers since news of his firing went public. He also applied for the Prince George’s County Police Department.
A status on Morici’s Facebook page reads:
“First I want to thank everyone who’s supporting me from all over the country! This has officially gone national. I got a phone call from Fox today and they want me to join them this Saturday on Fox and Friends. To everyone who’s supported by posting and sharing and all the kind messages I’ve been receiving I again say THANK YOU!”
If you would like to let CVS know how you feel about their policies, email them using this online form.