A sporting goods store manager bravely tackled a man stealing a gun. Now he has been fired.

Dean Crouch and his family. Fox News/Ryan Hobbs

A manager at a sporting goods store was fired after an incident where he tackled a man stealing a gun. Fox News. Dean Crouch, a 32 year old from Tallahassee, was fired by Academy Sports for breaking store policy. The suspect, Jason White was looking at a .40 caliber Glock but ran off with it along with two magazines and ammo. Crouch tackled White and prevented him from leaving until police showed up and arrested the man. White had also stolen weapons from two pawn shops the same day. 

CBS reports that White bragged about the theft and said he would steal again after getting out. He also said he planned on shooting someone and was going to "make the news".

My Comment:

Fairly disgusting story out of Tallahassee. It is very clear that Jason White was an extremely dangerous man and one that may have killed someone. It's even possible that he was going to attempt a mass shooting. He could have killed quite a few people with the weapons he stole. He claims he needed the gun in self defense but I don't believe his story. 

Thankfully that didn't happen due to the actions of Dean Crouch. He went above and beyond the duty to tackle this man and by doing so he protected his community. Tackling a man with a gun is always brave thing to do even if this gun (and accompanying magazines) weren't loaded. Doing what he did probably saved someone's life or at the very least prevented an attempted murder. 

So how does the company repay Crouch? By firing him. This is a man with two small kids and needs his job to support them. Sure, they have a policy that nobody can touch a customer but my God man, shouldn't there be an exception for self defense or defense of others? I know a lawsuit from people like Jason White is possible but there is something called doing the right thing and they did not do it here. This is a huge PR nightmare for Academy Sport. 

If there is any good news from this story it is the fact that people seem to be rallying around the Crouch family. He is getting a lot of support and job offers and has an interview at Bass Pro Shops. It sounds like things are going to work out for him just fine but the whole situation is infuriating.  

As for Jason White, it's fairly stupid that he is out of jail on bail. After his comments saying he would do it again, you would think that bail would have been revoked. He seems like a clear threat to the community and someone that should be in jail. 

He also seems like kind of an idiot. He had already pulled off this little stunt twice already at local pawn shops and gotten away with it. If he had guns why did he need a third? I guess he could have used his gun at the Academy Sports to rob them but at that point he might have been shot instead of tackled. All things considered that might have been a better outcome...