A family-owned pizzeria in New Jersey is facing backlash after an officer claimed she got a pizza box with the word “pig” written on it.
In early August, the East Brunswick police officer walked into the family-owned pizza restaurant to pick up her order.
While the officer waited for her food, pizzeria owner Frank Mancini’s brother marked a pizza box with a sharpie and put it in the oven to wait for pickup, NJ Advance Media reported.
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The box had a “derogatory comment directed toward the officer,” East Brunswick PBA Local 145 wrote on its Facebook page. “After confronting the employee, the officer left without her food or a refund.”
Mancini, though, denies there was any anti-cop message. Mancini states that the box in question was titled with “P” for plain pie and had a symbol next to it to indicate garlic twist.
The restaurant maintains that this is a case of misunderstanding and that it appreciates and supports the police force.
"This has been a nightmare," Mancini said. "We love cops. People just want to blow it up for our business to fail."
In an attempt to defend itself, Mancini Pizza released a photo, claiming it showed the pizza box in question. However, the police union denied the photo was accurate.
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“The photograph conjured up by Mancini Pizza, 11 days after the incident, is not an actual depiction of the original pizza box. It is unfortunate, but not surprising that Mancini Pizza would attempt to cover up the truth and continue to avoid taking responsibility for the behavior of their employees. As mentioned in our previous statement, the officer refutes the claims made by Mancini Pizza regarding the matter. We will continue to stand by the officer's account of the event.”
The East Brunswick community has responded to the allegations by calling for a boycott of the restaurant. Its Yelp page is now being monitored because of reviews left regarding this incident.