9/12/2011

Pharmacist fired from Walgreens for using a concealed handgun to stop a robbery, sues Walgreens

Jeremy Hoven is a pharmacist who used to work for Walgreen's in Benton Township, Michigan. After being a victim of a robbery at another Walgreen's Hoven was worried that the company had not done more to fix its security. Here is something that I wrote in May.

Police Lt. Delmar Lange thought that Hoven had done the right thing firing shots and forcing the robbers to flee. “[Hoven] could see the hostage situation developing. He could not retreat any farther. He was in the back room. If it was me, I would have done the same thing,” Lange told the Detroit Free-Press. Lange thought that the video cameras clearly showed that Hoven had no alternative. The robbers were “very aggressive and very dangerous in what they did and how they did it.”
At least one of the three other workers in the store was also convinced that Hoven did the right thing, sending Hoven a thank-you card with a photograph of his four children. . . .


Now Hoven has decided has decided to sue Walgreen's for firing him.

"Store employees receive comprehensive training on how to react and respond to a potential robbery situation."
"Law enforcement strongly advises against confrontation of crime suspects . . . ."

1) What do you want Hoven to do while a robber is trying to fire his gun at Hoven? Wait for the police to arrive?
2) Not all law enforcement agrees with this advice as is obvious from Police Lt. Delmar Lange's comments.

From MSNBC:

A Michigan pharmacist who fought off armed attackers by firing a gun of his own to thwart a robbery attempt in May was hailed by many as a hero.
After the hair-raising confrontation that was captured on surveillance video, Jeremy Hovan’s employer rewarded him with a pink slip. Now, Hovan is fighting back, filing a federal lawsuit against Walgreens for wrongful termination.
“No life was lost, no life was harmed, and nothing was stolen,’’ Hovan’s lawyer, Dan Swanson, told NBC News. “So in that context, I think he was a hero. He was exercising his reasonable right of self-defense in the face of a gunman who attempted to pull a trigger three times and shoot him. Presumably, shoot him dead.’’
Hovan was working the overnight shift at a Walgreens in Benton Harbor, Mich., in May when two armed gunmen burst through the front door. One pointed a gun in the back of one of Hovan’s fellow employees, while the other leapt over the counter into the pharmacy area. Hovan immediately grabbed a gun of his own in his left hand, while holding the phone in his right hand.
Caught on the surveillance video, the armed robber behind the counter attempted to fire at Hovan three times, but the gun malfunctioned. Hovan fired three shots of his own, causing both gunmen to flee the store without anyone being hurt or anything being stolen. A fellow employee quickly scrambled to retrieve one of the guns left behind. The two gunmen are still at large
“I feared for my life, and in self-defense, I fired my weapon as I continued to move from him,’’ Hovan said at a press conference. “He hurdled over the counter in a single motion and pointed his weapon at me. The gunman repeatedly attempted to fire upon me.’’ . . .

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