A pair of heroic Starbucks baristas who risked their lives to save the company’s hard-earned money have been fired more than a month after reportedly foiling an armed robbery. The Riverfront Times reported both the initial robbery attempt and news of the employees’ terminations .
Authorities allege that just before 3 p.m. on December 17, Joshua Noeand and Marquise Porter-Doyle entered the Starbucks location at 212 South Grand Boulevard in St. Louis, MO. Armed with firearms, they commanded the seven employees, including Michael Harris and Devin Jones-Ransom, and a single customer to lay down on the floor and surrender their possessions.
The two men allegedly told employees to open the cash register and safe, but the workers were unable to do so. Noe became enraged, striking Harris on the head with his pistol. But the gun cracked, signaling to the victims the weapons were toys.
Harris, Jones-Ransom, and the patron then began to fight back. During this melee, Noe and Porter-Doyle are both alleged to have punched one of the victims in the face. They were eventually able to restrain Noe until authorities arrived. Porter-Doyle fled the scene, but was caught a short time later.