“I AM TAKING THIS AIR CONDITIONER”!!! BELIEVE IT OR NOT, SURVEILLANCE FOOTAGE AND KTLA REPORT A SUSPECTED THIEF TRIED TO MAKE OFF WITH A MASSIVE COOLING UNIT FROM A PALMDALE HARDWARE STORE… AND A PREGNANT WORKER WRESTLED IT BACK BEFORE THE VEHICLE COULD DRIVE OFF.
Surveillance footage from an Ace Hardware store in Palmdale captured the confrontation on Friday, Aug. 28.
The incident involved an expectant employee working at the Southern California retail location.
Store cameras recorded an unidentified individual walking out through the store doors carrying a giant box over their shoulder.
The large container reportedly held an air-conditioning unit.
The person was allegedly attempting to make off with the cooling equipment without paying for it.
But the suspected theft was far from a done deal.
The pregnant California hardware store employee went full mama bear when she set off after the would-be thief.
She immediately began pursuing the individual after they exited the building with the unpaid merchandise.
Then the confrontation shifted directly into the parking lot outside the business.
A vehicle sat parked outside the front of the Ace Hardware store.
The person headed toward the automobile carrying the heavy cooling unit.
The pregnant employee caught up with the person just as they were trying to load the bulky box into the parked vehicle.
She intervened right at the vehicle before the person could load the box inside.
She grabbed onto the package.
She refused to let go.
The female employee grabbed a hold of the box just as the suspected criminal was trying to put the unit into the vehicle parked out front.
A physical tug-of-war immediately broke out between the expectant worker and the alleged thief.
The worker held firmly onto the merchandise throughout the struggle in the lot.
The pregnant employee foiled the suspected robbery right at the side of the vehicle.
After the tug-of-war, the employee eventually wrestled the air-conditioning unit away from the alleged thief.
The individual was unable to drive off with the merchandise.
The suspect could not secure the box.
The merchandise remained behind.
The surveillance video then recorded the employee returning to the hardware store.
The footage shows the determined worker casually heading back into the store.
She carried the enormous package back toward the entrance in one hand.
The video ends with the pregnant worker walking back into the store carrying the large package with one hand.
A pregnant employee at the Southern California hardware store is now being hailed a hero after she chased down a suspected thief of an air-conditioning unit and recovered the item, according to KTLA5.
The expectant worker was later questioned about her decision to confront the suspected thief in the parking lot.
Later asked why she took such a risk, the employee said she “acted on instinct,” according to KTLA.
Her actions quickly prompted a formal response from store leadership.
Her boss made clear that employees are not expected to play hero when merchandise is stolen.
“We don’t promote or ask our employees to go after thefts, let alone risk their lives,” the manager said in a statement to the outlet.
Yet the boss also said his employee deserved some kind of reward for her actions.
“But on the other hand, this woman deserves a medal for her courage and valor,” the statement to the outlet added.
The identity and current status of the person who attempted to take the merchandise remain unresolved.
It is unclear what happened to the person who reportedly attempted to take off with the air conditioning unit without paying.
It is unclear whether the police were ever called out.
The California Post reached out to the Palmdale Sheriff’s station for more information.
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