What would
you do?
At 2:30 a.m. Sunday, Oswald was taking a break in his car from his $8.70-an-hour job stocking pet supplies when he saw a man clinging to the hood of a car as the driver attempted to shake him off by stopping and starting.
When the car stopped, the woman got out and the man on the hood grabbed her and pinned her up against the side of the vehicle as she screamed.
"I asked if she needed help," Oswald said. "She said 'Yes, please, help me.' "
By the time Oswald reached her, the man had gotten into the woman's car.
"I thought he was trying to steal her car," Oswald said.
When Oswald reached for the man through the open door, the man pulled Oswald inside and began pummeling him with punches.
“I fought tooth and nail to get that job. ... I was just doing what I thought I had to do.”
— Kristopher Oswald, Linden, Mich.
As the two men wrestled to the ground, the woman got back in the car and drove off.
The man pulled the hood of Oswalt's sweatshirt over his face and then two of the man's friends from another vehicle join the fray.
Oswald said six or seven of his co-workers eventually witnessed what was happening and rushed to help him.
Unfortunately for Kristopher Oswald, although store managers told him they were proud of his actions, he was immediately
terminated:
Kristopher Oswald told WXYZ-TV in Detroit that Wal-Mart has policies against workplace violence to prevent employees from assaulting co-workers or tackling a shoplifter, but that it appears that nothing allows for them to assist in situations of imminent danger and self-defense.
A spokeswoman for Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart Stores Inc. told The Associated Press on Thursday that while the company understood Oswald's intentions, his actions violated company policy.
"We had to make a tough decision, one that we don't take lightly, and he's no longer with the company," company spokeswoman Ashley Hardie said.
Kristopher Oswald is doing all he can to find a new job. You can see an interview with below the fold.