Police Officers Claim Restaurant Servers Taunted Them And Served Them Tainted Food

Against a backdrop of growing tension between cops and the communities they serve, North Carolina police officers were allegedly taunted and served inedible food at a Zaxby's fast food restaurant.  The incident was posted on Facebook by Capt. Joel Shores of the Cleveland County Sherriff's Office, and a wife of one of the deputies also complained about their mistreatment on social media.

"Years ago, this profession was respected, it was honored," Capt. Joel Shores wrote in his Facebook post. "Now to get ridiculed, to be a target, to possibly get shot at, for little pay. What's the motivation to be a police officer other than do it because your heart's in it to help the community."

According to WSOCTV, the owner of the restaurant in Shelby, North Carolina, is meeting with the deputies to apologize for the incident where officers were laughed at as soon as they entered the restaurant and served food doused with so much hot sauce as to render it totally inedible.

"Me, my team, my family, all take this incident extremely seriously," franchise owner Neil Glezen told WSOCTV.

In a statement, Zaxby's said it was conducting an official internal investigation to find the cause of the incident and discipline the perpetrators.