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Ok let me lay the stage for you..

My neice works at an office supply store in Arlington/Ft Worth area. While getting ready to close her register down for the day, she is approached by a man she has never seen before. He is holding something under his shirt, and informs her it is a gun and to give her all of the money in her register. He continues to demand money saying things like "Don't make me have to hurt you...yadda yadda yadda"

She breaks down and bursts into tears trying to get the register open, and he informs her that she is not really being robbed, he is with the Store Loss Prevention team, and was just testing her to see what she would do in a robbery.

As far as I am concerned, He just broke the law and put himself in harms way. If I would have been in line behind him, or someone else had been in the store..LEO another CHL etc....I think it could or WOULD have turned bad really fast!

Can you believe this idiot? Man he MUST be swimming laps in the shallow end of the gene pool!

Report him to the PD for a terroristic threat. Certianly its on camera/recorder.

Anyone else doing that would get the same treatment. His employment status with Office Depot should be reviewed.

That guy would be "floored" with my response.

This guy and Office Depot took a huge risk. What if your niece had been trained in hand to hand combat? What if he were close enough and she was able to take him out? She may also have a legitimate claim against Office Depot for emotional stress. She, basically, went through a robbery with the threat of bodily harm because of the threat of a weapon. With the right lawyer, it wouldn't surprise me if Office Depot could be in big trouble.

I think those types of tactics are totally out of line, and should be illegal. I would tell her to file a complaint with the Office Depot HR Department advising them event has caused her extreme PTSD. That should at least remedy them ever using that tactic again.

Edit to add: C-dub beat me to the complaint. And as mentioned, if you have a good lawyer on retainer, I would sure talk to them anout this.

C-dub wrote:This guy and Office Depot took a huge risk. What if your niece had been trained in hand to hand combat? What if he were close enough and she was able to take him out? She may also have a legitimate claim against Office Depot for emotional stress. She, basically, went through a robbery with the threat of bodily harm because of the threat of a weapon. With the right lawyer, it wouldn't surprise me if Office Depot could be in big trouble.

The young lady would certainly have my support...if I were on the jury.

He's very lucky that it didn't end with an intercom page like this:
"We need a mop, a few buckets and some bleach at the register....STAT!"

I say that half-jokingly (as I've done a register job before) but WOW....STUPID!

He's lucky that a CHL holder wasn't in the vicinity and heard him...that could have been ugly.

i'd be so distraught due to that intentional infliction of emotional distress I wouldn't be able to calm down and return to working for millions of minutes due to the PTSD

wow, i wonder if he was ordered by his boss to do that or if he just decided to do it on his own, but he's lucky he's not in the hospital or worse. to me it absolutely sounds like what he did was illegal. if you want to simulate a robbery, do it during a training course where everyone involved KNOWS it's a simulation, and where they can discuss what the employee should do in that situation.

Certianly its on camera/recorder.

It's not. Trust me. I work with many retail stores and I've done lots of business with Office Depot Loss Prevention. They should be called Office Depot Loss Reaction, because they aren't very good at taking advice on preventing anything.

I would tell her to file a complaint with the Office Depot HR Department...

They would nip this is the bud, pronto. 1-800-954-INFO. Also, There is an anonymous hotline posted on the wall in most employee breakrooms, at least it's required by HR protocols.

He's lucky that a CHL holder wasn't in the vicinity and heard him...that could have been ugly.

There are few South Texas employees that are CHL.

I think the lawsuit is unnecessary unless PTSD is present. The LP guy needs to be transferred to a 'customer-only level.'

...I think he's guilty of robbery...though they might fail at that showing intent...and making a terroristic threat...by demanding the money and telling her he had a gun, he has committed his part of the robbery...what a fool...needs to be fired and charged...and the poor girl has a lawsuit...what if she'd had a heart attack...or slipped and fallen....Office Depot should not be allowed a pass on this one...nor should he personally...you don't play like that...

...looking it up...the intent is present in the terroristic threat law, too....that sucks...now I, too, wish there'd been someone nearby to teach him the error of his ways...looks like neither charge would stick...what an idiot...OD should be civilly liable even if they didn't instruct him to act that out...that poor woman could suffer for life from his actions...

...she should make a police report of the details for future use...not necessarily from the store...and keep copies of it for her lawyer...what if she'd hit a button and an officer came in and saw him....I'm gonna go sit in the snow and cool down....

There's not enough info in the OP to know for certain but could it be that this guy really was going to rob Home Depot and lost his nerve when she started crying? Did the "loss prevention" guy stick around afterward for any kind of debriefing or did he leave the store immediately? Inquiring minds would like to know.

So if I'm standing behind him on line and I overhear these threats...
And I see a "bulge" and his hand in his coat...
And I draw and fire.... injuring the guy, or worse..

Standing behind him in line, it's likely the entry wound would be in his back.

What's the likelihood of a "No-Bill".?

PC §9.31. SELF-DEFENSE. (a) Except as provided in Subsection
(b), a person is justified in using force against another when and to the
degree the actor reasonably believes the force is immediately necessary
to protect the actor against the other's use or attempted use of
unlawful force. The actor's belief that the force was immediately
necessary as described by this subsection is presumed to be reasonable
if the actor:
(1) knew or had reason to believe that the person against whom
the force was used:
(A) unlawfully and with force entered, or was attempting to
enter unlawfully and with force, the actor's occupied habitation, vehicle,
or place of business or employment;
(B) unlawfully and with force removed, or was attempting to
remove unlawfully and with force, the actor from the actor's habitation,
vehicle, or place of business or employment; or
(C) was committing or attempting to commit aggravated kidnapping,
murder, sexual assault, aggravated sexual assault, robbery,
or aggravated robbery;

Aggiedad wrote:There's not enough info in the OP to know for certain but could it be that this guy really was going to rob Home Depot and lost his nerve when she started crying? Did the "loss prevention" guy stick around afterward for any kind of debriefing or did he leave the store immediately? Inquiring minds would like to know.