A once high-ranking police officer in Arizona now finds himself out of a job — and all because of the chicken at KFC.
What actually happened when the officer got into the dispute at his local KFC depends on who you ask.
According to employees at the eatery, the police lieutenant, who had been the second-in-command in the department at the time, came into the KFC/Taco Bell combo on July 9. “He ordered some chicken that we didn’t have available at that moment,” recalls the manager who was on duty that day.
A second manager offered the officer another type of chicken and a voucher for a free meal, but the officer instead asked for his money back. The manager claims this is against store policy.
“He told me, ‘Look, fat a–, I don’t want to talk. Just give me my money or I’m taking you to jail. Do you know who I am?’” alleges the manager, who says he then took off his apron in preparation for being arrested.
Says the second employee, “He told me that he was the police lieutenant and told me I had to give him his money back. I said that whether he’s the president of the United States or just a regular person, I can’t give him his money back… He asked me how old I was and said he was going to take me to jail personally.”
One manager says he asked the officer to leave the restaurant because he was being disruptive: “We had a full lobby. I don’t need people yelling, being the way he was in the lobby … we have kids in there and stuff.”
Police records confirm that the officer, who was on leave at the time following a motorcycle accident, did call in to the station to let them know he was making an arrest. “I’ve got a problem with the manager. I’m going to take him for fraudulent activity, so I need a car,” he told the dispatcher.
Now there’s the officer’s side of the story.
“The thing that I’m proud of: I didn’t lose my temper. I didn’t raise my voice. This isn’t worth it,” he says.
According to the officer, he never told anyone they were being arrested and that he called the police department to have them come out and resolve the dispute:
I told them, ‘You’re committing fraud. You can’t take someone’s money, not give them any product, and refuse to give the money back,’… I didn’t yell. I didn’t use profanity, and I left. So how was that disorderly?
When police arrived, they told the officer — who outranked them — that the matter was a civil dispute and couldn’t be resolved by the police.
Graham said he called the Williams police, and that although he out-ranked the officers who arrived, he did not order them to handle the case in any particular fashion.
“It’s a civil matter because you’re a lazy f—–,” the off-duty officer admits to having told the responding officers. “I could have ordered them to make the arrest. I didn’t.”
The responding officers reported that the lieutenant had taken an “aggressive stance” in his dealings with them. After the incident, a police sergeant sent the department chief a memo outlining what he said were police department policy violations: neglect of duty, not supporting fellow officers, disorderly conduct, not creating harmony and cooperation within the department, not conforming to rules and regulations and oppression under the color of law.
While the incident was being investigated, the lieutenant was ordered to turn over his phone, badge and weapons but declined. Police had get a search warrant for his home in order to retrieve these items.
The officer was terminated on July 28 but says he plans on filing a wrongful-termination suit.
Finger-lickin’ bad [Arizona Daily Sun]
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OMFG ! There is at least ten minutes of stand-up material in this story.
who made farva 2nd in charge?
The cop has the right to recover his damages, (the price he paid for the chicken), through small claims court. He probably could have detained the individual for up to 24 hours without filing charges.
Perhaps not when he was on leave.
It this is indeed KFC’s policy, then I will never eat there again. If you take my money for a 2 piece, original recipe meal, and then tell me you don’t have it ready and that it’ll be a while, you should give me back my money if I choose to cancel my order. Anything less is fraud. Even giving a voucher for a free mean at another time isn’t sufficient.
KFCs are mostly franchises. It’s likely to be a franchise policy rather than the chain as a whole.
Arizona, perhaps Ms. Brewer will have this guy head her alien detection task force?
While I disapprove of the officers actions in this matter I feel that I need to point out that the article omitted a potentially mitigating factor. The officer in question suffered a brain injury in the mentioned motorcycle accident, which may have affected his behavior.
I think the policy is stupid — if you don’t have what the customer ordered, give him his money back. That being said, store policies are not a police matter, unless the cops think the situation constitutes criminal fraud.
Pretty much SOP at any fast food joint.
The will have the food in a few minutes, but they will have your money NOW.
So, they don’t tell you to wait until AFTER you pay up.
If it’s a long wait, they ask you to sit down (or pull into a parking spot) and they bring it to you.
Kinda sucks that you’re trapped at that point–leave without your food or money or wait.
But it’s hard to say it’s fraud unless they give you a delivery schedule for the grub, then fail to meet it.
Of course, you could always pay with a CC (many allow it now), and threaten a chargeback.
Elephant gun to kill a mouse, but winning is everything to a bully–especially when they’re wrong.
Sadly, the store’s policy, “we’ll take your money, won’t give what you just paid for, and won’t give your money back at least anytime soon” does not seem that uncommon. A few years ago, I rented a movie at a video store, quickly discovered that I’d been given the wrong video, and was back at the store within 15 minutes. There was no dispute that I’d paid for a different film, but the store could not find the video it had intended to rent to me. Since that was the only movie I wanted to watch that night, I asked for my money back. The clerk refused, saying such a refund was against “store policy.” This is fraud, I protested — I gave you five bucks for a product you never gave me — give me my money back. I threatened to remain in the store, sleep there if need be, until my five bucks was refunded. Go ahead, call the cops, I suggested — you’re the thief, you have my money, it’s as if you stole five bucks from my wallet. In retrospect: though I’m not an attorney, I was probably legally wrong; it was a civil matter, and if called, the police would most likely have taken their side if I had continued to refuse to leave the store. That doesn’t stop me from thinking that such a policy is outrageous, and being pleased that my subsequent repeated phone calls to the store, demanding my cash, must have caused more than $5 worth of pain and inconvenience to the store manager — who ultimately refunded my five bucks.
The same thing happened to me three years ago at a KFC here in NY. I ordered a value meal and, as I was handing the clerk my $10, I said that I wanted original recipe. He took my $10 and said that they only had extra crispy. I asked for my money back and he said that they couldn’t give refunds. The $10 bill was still in his hand.
I really don’t like extra crispy and, after a few minutes of trying to get a refund, I asked for a manager. Of course, there wouldn’t be a manager in the store until 5:00 PM that evening. I then asked for at least my change from the 10 and he said that I could get my whole $10 back after I spoke to the manager.
I went back to work and wrote KFC via their website and soon received a call from the local franchise owner, who apologized for my experience. I explained to him that I was out $10 and he said that he’d send me coupons which would more than cover my cost. A few days later, I received 2 coupons for $2.99 each. I haven’t been back to a KFC since.
A cop will get fired for threatening arrest over a refund policy, but tasering unarmed people in wheelchairs or violating people’s rights barely merits a suspension.
The message is clear: Don’t make life difficult for other cops in places where they get take out food while on the job.
The stereotype of doughnut-eating cops once again proves true.
.
This is the first time ever, but I’m going to have to agree with the cop here. The agreed sale was for a certain product at a certain price. The seller of the goods could not deliver them, and the buyer has no obligation to take a different good in place of what was originally agreed upon. If the seller is unable to perform, the buyer has no obligation to hold up their end of the agreement (in this case, give KFC money).
Hope the cop gets his job back. Doesn’t sound like he is the most upstanding example of law enforcement, but he was right in this situation to demand a refund.
What is going on here? Did this KFC take the officer’s order, and his money, BEFORE telling him the chicken he asked for was unavailable? If so, it would be reasonable to give him his money back. Does KFC’s company policy not anticipate that things like this wouldn’t happen? How many kinds of chicken does KFC have anyway? I eat at Popeye’s, so I don’t know.
I’m curious as to which f-word he used. Was it a derogatory term for gays or THE f-word?
1. That is a bs policy – if you can’t serve up fast food in a fast manner and the client wants their money back, give it back and move on. Taco hell this is another chit against you. You suck
2. This idiot cop deserved/needed to get fired. He obviously enjoyed his little power trip a little too much, and that is a dangerous thing indeed. Become a yoga instructor and learn to chill the f***out, dude.
3. If you go to a crap fast food place, expect crap – in all its forms.
Such an arrest would likely be an illegal arrest anyway, thus giving the store manager the right to resist with force.
If the store policy was that no matter what… the store policy was “THIS” and the manager would be fired for not following it… then it really wouldn’t have mattered if the clerk was arrested. The store would be liable for all costs associated with the arrest and detainment of the employee. Any and all time spent in custody for would have to be paid, and in likelihood, as overtime.
It certainly is possible that the officer let his power go to his head, and if that is the case, we are better off with him gone. However, it is not clear that this is the case. Certainly though, the failure to turn in his badge is a big problem.
But seriously, taking money and then NOT providing what you contracted to, is ILLEGAL! While the local police may choose to not do anything about it and leave up to the CRIME VICTIM to handle civilly, KFC is breaking the law and I think they are ripe for a class action lawsuit. Normally, I think this country is way too litigious, but it appears that because of the small amount of dollars involved in each transaction, this is probably the only way to get them to obey the law.
In the meantime save your receipts, document your experiences, and if you are willing, file complaints with your state’s attorney general. It is only with citizens like you and me, taking the time and making the effort to stand up for what is right, that crap like this will ever stop.
If they don’t have what you ordered you can’t get your money back?? That’s ludicrous!
Bad policy; worse cop. No heroes here – maybe the responding officers.
“… I didn’t yell. I didn’t use profanity, and I left. So how was that disorderly?”
Tell it to the judge dirtball.
i hate local cops…state troopers are generally ok, but the local guys are either a) shorties with a napoleonic complex or 2) degenerate bullies.
I would have let him arrest me, he’s the one who is going to look like a fool. Since he was offered a coupon for a free meal what more does this jerk want?
Cop demands refund, threatens to arrest KFC manager, gets fired.
Cop shown on video punching an underage girl in the face and rough handling another – gets suspended with pay.
What’s wrong with this picture.
How can it be legal to sell something you can’t provide and then refuse to refund the customer’s money. That’s the very definition of bait and switch, which is illegal.
The cop sounds like a class A jerk, though.
I wish the story made better sense. In the above link, Finger-lickin’ bad [Arizona Daily Sun], makes mention to the officer’s wife payment and what she ordered.
In my honest opinion, KFC idiots and Law Enforcement idiots, can just shoot themselves in the foot- as far as I am concerned.
They will offer a voucher but will give you a refund if you demand it (nicely). They pulled something like that on me and just said “NO, I want a refund. I am not interested in the meal any more.” The manager was incorrect. It is not against policy.