Keryn Donnelly
A Lowe's worker has been fired for intervening in a shoplifting heist that left her with a black eye.
Donna Hansbrough attempted to stop a group of three shoplifters from leaving the store last month with $2000 worth of merchandise.
The 68-year-old said that when she tried to stop them, one of the shoplifters punched her repeatedly in the face, leaving her with a black eye.
"The guy decided he wanted to be let go, so he punched me and grabbed my glasses as I still held onto the cart," she told WTOC.
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"He punched me again and again.
Hansbrough says she was later fired from the store in Rincon, Georgia, for violating its policy that staff who witness shoplifting should not intervene and instead call the authorities.
The suspects have been named by authorities as Takyah Berry, her uncle Joseph Berry and another man named Jarmar Lawton. Police have apprehended Lawton but both Berrys remain at large.
"They say that if you see somebody stealing something out the door, not to pursue, not to go out," Hansbrough explained to the Effingham Herald.
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"I just got tired of seeing things get out the door. I basically lost all the training. Everything they tell you to do, I just… I just lost it."
Hansbrough said that although she was aware of the store's policy, she never expected to be fired.
"Maybe a reprimand or a suspension," she explained. "I’m going to look for a new job. I can’t sit at home. I’m not that type of person."
Detective Vance from the Rincon Police Department told the Effingham Herald that Hansbrough had suffered 'two traumatic events all at once with being violently attacked and losing her job, her happiness, her peace, all at the same time'.
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Before the incident, Hansbrough had worked at the store for 13 years. She started at Lowe's as a cashier and later became a live nursery specialist when they found out she knew a lot about plants.
“My father worked at a nursery and I just kind of tagged along when I was little,” she said.
Despite her ordeal, Hansbrough said she's more than happy to help police if the case goes to trial.
“If they do need me, I will be there," she said.
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A GoFundMe has been set up to help Donna in the wake of the attack and it has so far raised more than $16,000.
UNILAD has reached out to Lowe's for comment.