Police officer reacts with empathy after a server left a derogatory message on his receipt

Video/KTNV

An employee at a California Pieology is out of a job after including an anti-police message on an officer’s receipt this week, but the officer’s quiet response to the incident was humbling.

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“I want to share this with everyone to show the unprovoked hatred that my husband and his partners deal with everyday,” a woman close to the officer wrote on Facebook alongside a photo of the receipt, which had the words “Fuck The Cops” typed on it. “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.”

RELATED: A cafe owner was horrified by the “gross and disrespectful” insults his worker wrote on a cop’s receipt

The uniformed officer had stopped by the restaurant on his lunch break only to discover the hateful message on his receipt. While he kept quiet at the time because he didn’t want his food to be tampered with, he reportedly harbors no ill-feelings towards the employee and even left a tip.

“He was very empathetic, wanted to take the person aside and ask them why they felt so harshly against law enforcement,” Sgt. Ronald Harris of the Torrance Police Department said of the officer. “He wanted to talk to this person about it.”

Pieology has since apologized on behalf of the company and announced that it has fired the worker in question, saying in a statement,

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.

RELATED: Justice was served after a drive-thru employee added this offensive note to a sheriff’s deputy’s receipt

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