Employees say Emanjula Daracus Brown became "irate" while waiting for his food, and ultimately pointed a gun at staff. (iStock)
A Louisiana Burger King reportedly refused to serve two uniformed officers who tried to order food through the drive-thru last month.
According to the Bayou Journal, the Assumption Parish sheriff’s deputies had just finished SWAT training and went to a Burger King in St. Francisville to get some food.
When the police officers tried to order through the drive-thru speaker at the fast food chain, employees allegedly denied their request.
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The police department’s public information officer Lonny Cavalier said the deputies tried to order chicken and were told the restaurant was out. They then tried to order Whoppers, to which an employee said they were out of hamburgers.
The uniformed officers asked if the establishment was actually out of the items or if they just did not serve law enforcement, but only received laughter in response, Cavalier wrote in a Letter to the Editor.
“The only response was laughter,” he said, WBRZ reported.
The deputies also had to wait before being allowed to order.
“They sat there for an extended period of time before someone finally let them order,” Cavalier told the Blue Lives Matter blog.
The deputies tried to alert the staff, but were ignored, Cavalier said, WRBZ reported.
“He could hear them inside laughing, but no one would come to the window.”
In his editorial, Cavalier wrote that he is troubled by the treatment – for which he claims the deputies were never given any explanation.
“What is troubling is that these same Burger King employees, in the event a robbery was occurring at the time, would have expected these two deputies to take a bullet for them, and those deputies would have,” Cavalier wrote.
Cavalier told WBRZ a man who identified himself as the restaurant owner spoke to the police department and demanded a retraction from the sheriff’s department for the story, claiming the employees had refused service to several people, not just the two deputies and not because they were uniformed deputies.
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“What is troubling is that these same Burger King employees, in the event a robbery was occurring at the time, would have expected these two deputies to take a bullet for them, and those deputies would have."
Burger King corporate office released a statement Friday to WBRZ, confirming the owner’s claims that service had been denied to multiple customers:
“The actions of this Team Member do not reflect the values of our brand. The Team Member in question refused service to multiple Guests on that day, including two law enforcement officials. The Franchisee, who independently owns and operates this location, has confirmed that this individual no longer works for the organization. We’d like to sincerely apologize to the deputies for the poor experience and are grateful for everything they do to protect our communities.”
The owner of the St. Francisville Burger King, Joe Clements of Crown Restaurants, LLC., issued a statement on Friday as well, to WBRZ:
“I am aware of the incident at the Burger King in St. Francisville involving two Assumption Parish Sheriff’s Deputies not being served. Unfortunately, it also involved other Guests not being served. The actions of these team members do not reflect the values and beliefs of our organization, nor do they reflect the values and beliefs of the Burger King Brand. I have investigated the incident and have determined that certain team members refused service to multiple Guests in our drive thru, including the two Deputies, on that day. As a result, these individuals no longer works for our organization. I have met with Sheriff Falcon of Assumption Parish and expressed my sincere apology for the incident, and I have asked that he extend my apology to the two Deputies. We also extend our apology to any Guests that were inconvenienced as a result of the performance of these employees. Our goal is to provide friendly customer service to all of our customers.”