An investigation is under way after a deputy found a thumbtack in his food while eating at Waffle House.
The deputy, Brad Myers, said he bit into a thumb tack as he was eating a salad at the restaurant.
“He was in uniform and eating there with some other people,” said Sheriff Jackie Matheny, noting city police are doing the investigation. “I hope it was all an accident.”
However, the deputy does not believe the thumbtack in his salad was an accident as he said he noticed the cook was “acting oddly” sparking his suspicions.
“He was snickering while preparing the food and looking over his shoulder,” deputy Myers told the police officer who took the report with the deputy adding the cook specifically reached across the table with his left hand to give the salad to the deputy. “Mr. Myers was concerned about his food to the point he confronted the cook and asked him if he had tampered with his food.”
Myers contacted police when he bit into the tack. The cook denied contaminating the food. A scan of surveillance video revealed no evidence the cook had placed the tack in the meal, but video quality was low.
The incident is especially mindful for officers after a Waffle House cook confessed to spitting in a policeman’s food in 2006. In that case, the cook was both prosecuted criminally and Waffle House sued.
Unlike the incident in 2006 where the cook and policeman had a run-in just before the incident, Sheriff Matheny said the deputy and cook did not know one another. However, Matheny said being a lawman causes officers to be mindful everywhere they go.
“Anytime I walk into a restaurant or even a church, I take a look around and scan the area,” Matheny said. “It’s common for officers to try to be aware of what’s around them even when they are off-duty. Now, as far as anything being done to my food, I’ve never had that problem.”
Waffle House executives were given a chance to comment but did not respond.