A restaurant employee for Pieology was fired after allegedly typing an anti-police message Thursday on a Torrance officer's receipt.
A Facebook post shared Monday to Facebook denounced the message that read "F--- The Cops" on the unnamed Southern California officer's take out receipt.
The post reads in full: "I want to share this with everyone to show the unprovoked hatred that my husband and his partners deal with everyday. This is not the type of business that I want to see in the city where I live. My husband's partner was just trying to get a quick bite to eat in the middle of a busy shift and this is what he received. Needless to say we will never eat at Pieology ever again. I hope you all will help support our police and share this both near and far. It is NOT ok to treat our officers like this."
The Facebook post has since been shared more than 7,000 times and has garnered more than 2,000 comments.
The uniformed officer, from the Torrance Police Department, stopped by the restaurant to have lunch and immediately noticed the message when he was given his receipt. The officer has not commented, but a spokesman said the department harbors no hard feelings against the restaurant.
The officer did not respond to the employee and left a tip, according to the department.
"He was very empathetic," said Sgt. Ronald Harris, of the Torrance Police Department. "What happened in the course of this individual's life for this to come to this?"
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The pizzeria apologized on behalf of the entire Pieology family for this "upsetting situation" in a statement shared with NBC4 Los Angeles.
"The actions of this employee do not in any way reflect the thoughts of Pieology, and we have taken swift and serious action to rectify the situation, including terminating the offending employee. We have the utmost respect and gratitude for the men and women who keep our communities safe, and have no tolerance for hateful language or actions. This location in Torrance is a heartfelt supporter of all men and women in uniform, especially the brave first responders, and shows its support with a discount for all uniformed police, firefighters and military members."
NBC4 spoke with customers at the restaurant Monday.
"I don't think you should blame the restaurant because they don't have control over all of their workers," customer Charla Gae said.
Another customer agreed.
"It's probably a dumb kid who thought it was funny," Jason Hall said. "It wasn't funny so they got fired and they deserved it."
