Two hero baristas have been fired by Starbucks after preventing the store where they work from being robbed.
On Sunday, December 17, two men walked into the coffee shop at 212 South Grand Boulevard in St. Louis, carrying what appeared to be guns and telling everyone in the store to get on the ground and give up any valuables they had on them.
However, when 37-year-old Joshua Noe, of Potosi, struck a patron over the head with his supposed gun, it cracked. Realizing the men were not armed, the would-be victims turned the tables on the would-be robbers.
Two of the people who fought back were store employees Michael Harris and Devin Jones-Ransom. An attorney for Harris says that he was struck in the face, leading to a struggle.
“Harris complied with the robbers’ demands until it was no longer an option for himself and others,” says Ryan Krupp, who represents the former Starbucks worker. Krupp says that after being struck, Harris realized he needed to take action or risk being killed.