Popeyes Robbery Ends With a Job Offer

March 21, 2016, 8:46 PM UTC
L.A. City Council Proposes Ban On Fast-Food Chains
LOS ANGELES, CA - JULY 24: A Popeyes fast food restaurant sign glows on July 24, 2008 in the South Los Angeles area of Los Angeles, California. The Los Angeles City Council committee has unanimously approved year-long moratorium on new fast-food restaurants in a 32-square-mile area, mostly in South Los Angeles, pending approval by the full council and the signature of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to make it the law. South LA has the highest concentration of fast-food restaurants of the city, about 400, and only a few grocery stores. L.A. Councilwoman Jan Perry proposed the measure to try to reduce health problems associated with a diet high in fast-food, like obesity and diabetes, which plague many of the half-million people living there. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)
Photograph by David McNew—Getty Images

Devin Washington was hired by Popeyes (AFCE) after a very unusual interview.

Washington, 18, went to a Popeyes restaurant in eastern New Orleans on Saturday to meet with manager Danyanna Metoyer about a job. While he was there, a man who appeared to be a patron came inside and asked if she could make change for a dollar.

Metoyer told the Associated Press that when she opened the cash register the man, Pablo Ciscart, 50, grabbed money from the change drawer. Assistant manager Dominique Griffin attempted to grab his arm but couldn’t get a firm hold on him, so he got away.

Metoyer was able to block the exit telling the AP, “My upper body strength was stronger than his.” She added that they hadn’t made a lot of money, so she couldn’t let him take what they did have. As she barricaded the doorway, Washington grabbed his arms and bent them back. He, along with cook Michael Ford, kept Ciscart immobile until police arrived on the scene and arrested him.

The Popeyes manager said she and Griffin had already made the decision to hire Washington before the robbery occurred, but they only got the chance to tell him after the fact, “You’re hired. You’ve earned it.”

Subscribe to Well Adjusted, our newsletter full of simple strategies to work smarter and live better, from the Fortune Well team. Sign up today.

Read More

Great ResignationInflationSupply ChainsLeadership