Jacksonville, Florida residents are gobsmacked over a police memo suggesting a local restaurant lets employees spit in the food of officers.
Police Chief Patrick Dooley sent the memo to officers on Monday urging them to use caution when eating at Cruisers Grill.
The juicy allegations came to light on Monday when officers responded to a report of an alarm going off at the restaurant, according to local station WLTV.
According to a police report, restaurant owner Bobby Handmaker admitted setting off the alarm by accident, but asked to speak to the officers before they left.
Police said Handmaker told them about how he had been pulled over for an expired tag and was angry that the officer had shoved a flashlight into his face.
Handmaker then said he should have gotten a warning instead of a ticket and referred to the officer that pulled him over as just a “fucking bully.”
When one of the officers told Handmaker he would tell his supervisor about his complaints, the restaurant owner allegedly said he knew his employees had been spitting in the meals of officers for sometime, adding, “And now I know why, because you are all bullies!”
The report also claims that Handmaker yelled “You are all fucking bullies!” as they left.
Dooley’s memo didn’t prohibit officers from cruising over to Cruisers, but he wanted to warn them for health and safety reasons.
Handmaker admits he had a disagreement with other officers, but insists his employees have never spit on the food on any customer.
“My employees have never done anything like this ever,” he told WLTV. “There was a disagreement between an officer and myself and it gone blown out of proportion. We take a lot of pride in doing what we do, we have a lot of passion and that’s why we’re here. These allegations are patently false.”
Read the police report:
The allegations against Cruisers Grill is leaving a bad taste in the mouth of some customers.
One former customer named Lester told The Florida Times-Union that Handmaker’s alleged comments could be titled, “How to go out of business 101.”
Lester protested the restaurant by standing outside with a sign stating, “Cops Lunch Matters.”
John Addis, who describes himself as the restaurant’s general manager, denied the allegations on Facebook, saying he took the accusations against him and his staff “very personally.”
Handmaker went to the Jacksonville Police Department to apologize on Tuesday morning.
He told WJAX TV it’s an honor to serve those who protect the community.
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