Cop Kicked out of Olive Garden Due to His Gun, Restaurant Apologizes

A file photo of an Olive Garden restaurant. Steve Helber/AP Photo

Kansas City Police Officer Michael Holsworth never thought it would happen to him.

Holsworth was in full uniform when he went into an Olive Garden to meet with his family for dinner on last year for his birthday.

They were running late so he went inside to wait for them, sitting on a bench near the front doors. But soon after he'd sat down, an employee approached him and told him: “Sir, we don’t allow guns in here.”

Shocked, Holsworth responded, “Are you serious?”

“Yes,” the female employee said. So he said, “Well, I can leave I guess.” And she responded, “Yes, please leave.”

Stunned, Holsworth took to Facebook to share the story: “Now I never in my wildest thoughts would of thought this would happen in the Kansas City area. I see it happening all over the United States to other officers but never thought it would of happened to me. Please share this post and let everyone know how this establishment is treating their local law enforcement.”

Olive Garden headquarters soon caught wind of what happened, and spokesman Rich Jeffers told the Kansas City Star that company president Dave George called Holsworth to apologize.

“It’s unacceptable, that’s what it is,” Jeffers said.

“Olive Garden welcomes members of law enforcement all the time in the restaurants. We love serving them. They serve our community. The least we can do is provide them a great meal.”

Olive Garden has since apologized---profusely---over the incident.

Another Viral Incident: Police Help Thief

Police officers in Kansas responding to a shoplifting call last week decided to help the thief instead of arresting him.

Two Roeland Park Police Department officers responded to a call of a juvenile in custody for trying to steal work boots.

A stock photo of a Walmart store Photo by Alex Edelman / AFP

“Officers responded to the Wal-Mart and found that a displaced juvenile within the State of Kansas Justice system was trying to steal some work boots so he could get a job,” wrote Police Chief John Morris in a Facebook post.

“When the officer at the scene listened to his story, they were compelled to help. The officers bought the pair of boots for the juvenile and presented them to him after some words of encouragement to find a job, finish school, and stay out of trouble.”

he is staying with that had to respond to pick him up,” Morris added.

“Just another reason why I am so proud of my officers here in Roeland Park. I just smiled when I heard this story a short time ago as it almost made me cry too.”

The officers were identified as Officers Suffield and Snepp.