Last month, 70-year-old Army veteran Jim Tinney was fired from his job at Home Depot when he attempted to stop an attempted burglary.

Tinney saw three men stealing tool sets from the hardware store. He acted on impulse and threw a paint roller extension at one of the men’s feet in an attempt to keep them from leaving the store.

“In the Army, they train you to do things like that,” Tinney told ABC 13. “I just automatically went like this and threw the stick at their feet.”

Home Depot has a very strict policy on attempting to stop would-be thieves.

“What I can tell you now is that we have a strict policy that only our trained security personnel can pursue and engage shoplifters,” Stephen Holmes, director of corporate communications at Home Depot, said in a statement. “We’ve had deaths and serious injury over the years, and no amount of merchandise is more important than the safety of our associates and customers.”

The veteran thought the ordeal was over until he was fired two weeks later for the incident.

“I think they could have written me up, reprimanded me, but terminate me? That’s pretty strong,” Tinney explained. “I’m 70 years old. I need to work. I needed that job. I enjoyed working with customers figuring out what they wanted to do. It’s fun.”