A security guard was terminated from employment after he stopped a teenager from attempting to steal alcohol, because he allegedly went against the company policy that only selected officers could deal with shoplifting situations.

Dean Babcock, a 54-year old former policeman who is now a security guard at a local Targer, said that Monday he spotted a 16-year old girl attempting to steal a bottle of tequila worth $45. Upon closer inspection, Babcock identified the girl as the same one who security cameras caught stealing a bottle of rum a few days earlier.

Knowing that store policy authorized only a selected group of officers to handle such cases, Babcock approached the girl, and notified her father instead. He was still fired, however, "for violating the policy."

"They fired me for stopping a 16-year old girl from stealing alcohol," said Babcock, according to the UPI.

"She's a 100-pound girl," he continued. "She does three or four shots of that and that will do her in."

Babcock was reportedly approached by store personnel, who according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel told him he was "not supposed to make the stop."

"We take shoplifting very seriously," said assistant store manager Kristin Grieser, "but we are also very cautious in making apprehensions."

Understandably, Babcock was upset with both his termination and the store's attitude towards the situation. According to him, the girl "could have taken a shopping cart full and nobody would have stopped her."