Arby's Employee: Cop Incident Was Just a Joke

Chain offers free food to all area officers
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 4, 2015 1:53 AM CDT
Updated Sep 4, 2015 5:00 AM CDT
Arby's Employee: Cop Incident Was Just a Joke
Pembroke Pines officers enjoy a free breakfast.   (Facebook)

The incident that caused a Florida police union to call for a boycott of Arby's was just a manager's bad joke, says the now-suspended employee involved—but he doesn't expect anybody to believe him because he's a black teenager and it's his word against that of a police officer. Kenny Davenport tells CBS Miami that he told Pembroke Pines Police Sgt. Jennifer Martin that he couldn't serve her not because she was a cop, but because the drive-thru was so busy he had to ask his manager for help. The 19-year-old says the manager then made the bad joke about Davenport not wanting to serve Martin because she was a police officer. When the manager eventually brought the officer some food, she decided she didn't want to eat it.

Davenport says he didn't disrespect Martin and he would never refuse to serve an officer. "She hungry, I'm gonna give her some food," he says. The manager involved has been fired and the police department says it has received an apology from the CEO of Arby's and now considers the matter closed, reports Local 10 News. Arby's says all police officers in uniform in Miami-Dade and Broward counties can have a free meal today, reports WSVN, but Pembroke Pines officers may still be dealing with yesterday's leftovers: After the Arby's incident made the news, officers were provided with free meals from McDonald's and Whole Foods, as well as boxes of doughnuts donated by the public. (More Arby's stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X