Good Samaritan fired after carjacking incident

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (WSVN) -- A good Samaritan has lost his job after he saved a woman from an alleged attacker.

While 22-year-old Massiel Marquardt had her car keys snatched from her at knife-point Monday afternoon Juan Canales, a waiter at the 84 Thai restaurant, ran and confronted Marquardt's alleged attacker, 46-year-old Alfred Means. Canales tackled Means and held him down with the help of three others, until police arrived.

After speaking with detectives for a few hours, Canales returned to his job but at the end of the day his boss fired him. "He told me, 'You are dismissed, fired,' and I looked at him and I said, 'Are you serious?' and he said, 'Go, get out of here,'" said Canales.

Canales believes his boss was upset by the amount of attention his action brought the restaurant. "Nothing was worth a value to him in regards to what I did," said Canales.

Canales' now former boss said he fired him for his overall performance in the restaurant not Monday's good Samaritan performance. "He could be a good person. He was a hero yesterday, but, with his job, he's not good," said Sathaporn Yosagrai.

Marquardt learned of Canales' firing Tuesday morning. "I couldn't believe that after you've done something so noble they would actually go ahead and fire him," said Marquardt.

The engaged father of three says he's spent time everywhere from jail to homeless shelters. As his family's primary money maker, he decided to straighten out his life and started by waiting tables at a restaurant.

Canales is currently looking for another job, but he says he's already received many offers and looks forward to returning lots of phone calls from those interested in interviewing him for employment

(Copyright 2007 by Sunbeam Television Corp. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)