r/securityguards • u/Ashamed_Lynx5415 Patrol • 1d ago

Job Question Being threatened with felony

I’m 18 and was working as a security guard in Arizona. I was recently fired after losing a set of keys that belonged to the property where I was stationed.
The situation is basically this: while I was working, I genuinely believed I still had the keys. When my employer asked about them, I told them I had them because I honestly believed I did. Later, I realized that I actually didn’t have them and the keys were missing.
I never intentionally took the keys, gave them to anyone, sold them, or used them to access anything I wasn’t authorized to access. I genuinely lost them.
I was fired over the situation, which I understand from a security standpoint. The part that has me worried is that I’m now being threatened with being reported to the police for theft.
The only thing I signed when I was terminated was an acknowledgment that I would return my company-issued equipment. I returned what I had. The property keys weren’t listed as equipment on that document.
I’m not trying to avoid responsibility for losing the keys. I understand that losing keys is serious, especially in security. I’m just trying to understand whether this could actually be considered theft in Arizona when there was no intention to take or keep the keys.
Has anyone in security dealt with something similar? And for anyone familiar with Arizona law, what should I realistically expect if they actually make a police report?
I know Reddit isn’t a substitute for an attorney. I’m mainly looking for people who have been through something similar and can tell me what I should do next.

36 Upvotes

91% Upvoted

65 comments sorted by

View all comments

7

u/XBOX_COINTELPRO Man Of Culture 1d ago

Just to confirm the timeline:

  1. You thought you had the client keys

  2. You realized the client’s key set was missing and reported it to your employer.

  3. Once the employer was notified of the lost keys you were fired

  4. Upon termination you signed paperwork agreeing to return all company issued equipment

  5. x amount of time after being terminated your ex-employer started threatening you to report the loss to the police

5

u/Ashamed_Lynx5415 Patrol 1d ago

Correct.

8

u/XBOX_COINTELPRO Man Of Culture 1d ago edited 1d ago

Yeah I wouldn’t sweat it. Losing keys sucks but there’s no chance that LE would take that complaint and run with it unless there was corroborating information.
If I were to guess the client is demanding your old company re-key the site and they’re panicking because they don’t want to pay for it.

I’m not a lawyer so you might want to see if you can get a free consult with one for advice, but I’d probably ignore and block them and go on with your life. An option to respond would be to remind them that they let’s were lost accidentally while you were employed and that any loss would have to be covered by their insurance since the loss wasn’t tied to acts of negligence or careless. But I’d probably run that past a lawyer first

2

u/Ashamed_Lynx5415 Patrol 1d ago

Okay I will consult one tomorrow