Police say Wendy's would not serve officer; Wendy's says it's 'abruptly handling' it

Police in Fort Worth want to know “what’s the beef” after a local Wendy’s restaurant refused to serve an officer, according to the police department’s Twitter account.

A Fort Worth Police Department patrol supervisor went into Wendy’s at Trail Lake Drive and Interstate 20 in southwest Fort Worth at 6 p.m., said police spokesman Sgt. Marc Povero. As he walked to the counter, the employees turned their backs and walked to the back of the kitchen.

The employees stayed in the back and wouldn’t take his order, Povero said. The officer was the only person in the restaurant at the time, and the drive-through employee made eye contact with him and didn’t help him. He left, believing they refused to serve him because he was an officer in uniform.

On Twitter, Wendy’s said the fast food chain is aware of the incident and is “abruptly handling the situation.”

At least one person on Twitter said they wanted to donate gift cards and meals to the officer, and police said they can drop off gift cards at police headquarters, 505 West Felix St.

Spokespeople for Wendy’s were not immediately available for comment Friday morning.

There have been other incidents reported on social media regarding problems with stores or restaurants serving police.

In July 2016, a McDonald’s employee in Brenham, Texas, northwest of Houston was fired for refusing to serve an off-duty police officer.

Also in July, a couple in a Homestead, Penn., restaurant refused to be seated next to some police officers. The officers responded by paying for the couple’s meal – including tip.

In September 2016, Walmart apologized after an employee at its store in McDonough, Ga., refused to make a police officer’s retirement cake with a “thin blue line” design.

This story was originally published January 6, 2017 at 11:11 AM with the headline "Police say Wendy's would not serve officer; Wendy's says it's 'abruptly handling' it."