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By
Selim Algar
Published Jan. 26, 2024, 12:14 p.m. ET
Starbucks fired a barista who was toiling to pay for paramedic school after he helped subdue two robbers who pistol-whipped him.
Michael Harrison, 20, told The Post he was manning the drive-thru last month when two masked men entered his downtown St. Louis location around noon and told everyone to get on the ground.
With one of the invaders waving what appeared to be a gun, the roughly ten employees and one customer present got on their stomachs in terror.
Many of them, the aspiring EMT said, were crying in fear.
Harrison said he cooperated with the robbers’ demands and tried to open the register, but did not have the managerial credentials to access the cash.
He asked his supervisor to get off the ground to open the till, but the frozen manager declined to do so.
As one of the men rifled through pockets, his alleged accomplice, Joshua Noe, clobbered Harrison in the back of the head with the gun.
“At that point I thought he was going to shoot me,” the barista told The Post.
One of Harrison’s co-workers noticed a portion of the weapon broke off and he sensed a chance the gun was fake.
Devin Jones-Ransom then began brawling with the assailants, with Harrison coming to his aid.
The melee spilled outside, and a bystander from a nearby store jumped in to help the battling baristas.
When the fracas ended, Noe was immobilized on the ground while accomplice Marquise Porter-Doyle fled the scene.
A subsequent mugshot of Noe looked like he had just emerged from a blender, with cuts and scrapes on his face and scalp.
Arriving officers collared Porter-Doyle nearby and arrested Noe at the scene.
The impressed cops thanked Harrison and Jones-Ransom for their courage and placed the two suspects in their cruisers.
The baristas were then placed on paid leave for two weeks as Starbucks officials investigated the incident.
The two young men were lauded in local media for their heroism, and both looked forward to returning to work.
“But I got a call a few weeks later,” Harrison said. “Once the media died down. They told me they were terminating me. I was surprised. I was distraught. I was confused.”
The company told Harrison and his co-worker they had violated company policy, but were not specific, said Harrison’s attorney Ryan Krupp.
“We were deeply disturbed to learn of this frightening incident,” a Starbucks spokesperson told The Post. “Partner safety is at the core of how we operate in our stores, and we are so grateful that our partners and customers did not come to greater harm in this situation.
“In situations like this, our training and protocols guide our partners to comply and de-escalate, not just for their safety but for the safety of all in the store.”
The company maintains the two ex-employees should not have engaged the two men to the degree they did.
Stripped of his income, Harrison said he is now struggling to foot his bills and tuition. “That job was helping me pay for college,” he said. “I just don’t understand it. I thought it was the right thing to do.”
Harrison told The Post the busy location had been plagued by unruly and aggressive customers for months, and he and other employees formally complained to management.
He recalled one incident where a deranged customer began firing heavy steel canisters at cowering employees.
“People are always yelling and screaming at us, threatening to assault us. Throwing things, trying to come up to us,” he said.
“But nothing was ever done. People have left the job because of it.”
The company denied that claim, saying the location was temporarily closed to make safety improvements — including giving employees the option of locking the main section of the location and only using the drive-thru.
Now, Krupp said, a lawsuit is being prepared and will be filed in the coming weeks.
“When the robbers came in, my client complied and tried to open the cash register when he was struck in the head by one of the gunman,” Krupp said. “At that point you’re in a position to defend yourself.”
By
Selim Algar
Published Jan. 26, 2024, 12:14 p.m. ET
Starbucks fired a barista who was toiling to pay for paramedic school after he helped subdue two robbers who pistol-whipped him.
Michael Harrison, 20, told The Post he was manning the drive-thru last month when two masked men entered his downtown St. Louis location around noon and told everyone to get on the ground.
With one of the invaders waving what appeared to be a gun, the roughly ten employees and one customer present got on their stomachs in terror.
Many of them, the aspiring EMT said, were crying in fear.
Harrison said he cooperated with the robbers’ demands and tried to open the register, but did not have the managerial credentials to access the cash.
He asked his supervisor to get off the ground to open the till, but the frozen manager declined to do so.
As one of the men rifled through pockets, his alleged accomplice, Joshua Noe, clobbered Harrison in the back of the head with the gun.
“At that point I thought he was going to shoot me,” the barista told The Post.
One of Harrison’s co-workers noticed a portion of the weapon broke off and he sensed a chance the gun was fake.
Devin Jones-Ransom then began brawling with the assailants, with Harrison coming to his aid.
The melee spilled outside, and a bystander from a nearby store jumped in to help the battling baristas.
When the fracas ended, Noe was immobilized on the ground while accomplice Marquise Porter-Doyle fled the scene.
A subsequent mugshot of Noe looked like he had just emerged from a blender, with cuts and scrapes on his face and scalp.
Arriving officers collared Porter-Doyle nearby and arrested Noe at the scene.
The impressed cops thanked Harrison and Jones-Ransom for their courage and placed the two suspects in their cruisers.
The baristas were then placed on paid leave for two weeks as Starbucks officials investigated the incident.
The two young men were lauded in local media for their heroism, and both looked forward to returning to work.
“But I got a call a few weeks later,” Harrison said. “Once the media died down. They told me they were terminating me. I was surprised. I was distraught. I was confused.”
The company told Harrison and his co-worker they had violated company policy, but were not specific, said Harrison’s attorney Ryan Krupp.
“We were deeply disturbed to learn of this frightening incident,” a Starbucks spokesperson told The Post. “Partner safety is at the core of how we operate in our stores, and we are so grateful that our partners and customers did not come to greater harm in this situation.
“In situations like this, our training and protocols guide our partners to comply and de-escalate, not just for their safety but for the safety of all in the store.”
The company maintains the two ex-employees should not have engaged the two men to the degree they did.
Stripped of his income, Harrison said he is now struggling to foot his bills and tuition. “That job was helping me pay for college,” he said. “I just don’t understand it. I thought it was the right thing to do.”
Harrison told The Post the busy location had been plagued by unruly and aggressive customers for months, and he and other employees formally complained to management.
He recalled one incident where a deranged customer began firing heavy steel canisters at cowering employees.
“People are always yelling and screaming at us, threatening to assault us. Throwing things, trying to come up to us,” he said.
“But nothing was ever done. People have left the job because of it.”
The company denied that claim, saying the location was temporarily closed to make safety improvements — including giving employees the option of locking the main section of the location and only using the drive-thru.
Now, Krupp said, a lawsuit is being prepared and will be filed in the coming weeks.
“When the robbers came in, my client complied and tried to open the cash register when he was struck in the head by one of the gunman,” Krupp said. “At that point you’re in a position to defend yourself.”
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