Sheriff Randy Garrett said he's pleased with the resolution for a situation Tuesday involving three of his deputies, who were allegedly told by a former Sumter restaurant assistant manager that "she had a mind not to serve them" and she "didn't like cops."
Garrett said the deputies - members of his Interstate Crime Enforcement team - frequent the restaurant, which is located off Exit 135 on Interstate 95 near the Sumter-Clarendon line, due to its proximity to their patrol area.
"They go in there maybe two or three times a week," Garrett said. "They patrol 95, and it's right there. They go in and the employees there are always respectful. The guys cut up while waiting in line, and they cut up with the employees, and no one has ever said anything to them."
Today, that changed slightly, when a woman identified by Garrett only as an assistant manager, told the deputies they were "intimidating with those vests on."
"They told her they didn't mean to intimidate anyone, and she said that they were from Clarendon, not Sumter, and they couldn't do anything for her if she had any trouble in there," Garrett said. "She then basically said, 'I have a mind not to serve you.'"
Garrett said his agency's policy when such words are spoken are for deputies to leave the establishment. One of the deputies, however, re-entered the restaurant and asked to speak privately to the the employee, Garrett noted.
"He told her that all law enforcement agencies in South Carolina have mutual aid agreements with each other, and that if something happened, Clarendon deputies could help in Sumter until Sumter law enforcement arrived," Garrett said. "This includes making arrests, cuffing folks and waiting for that jurisdiction's deputies to arrive. And the same goes in Clarendon County if it were a Sumter deputy who spots a crime taking place."
At this point, Garrett said the woman told his deputy that she "just doesn't like cops."
"So, now this has spread like wildfire on social media, but it was an isolated incident from this one employee, who never said they weren't welcome," Garrett said.
Garrett said the store contacted him before he even found out about the incident from his deputies.
He said he wanted to be sure that his deputies had done nothing to cause the incident. At that point, Garrett said the owner told him the woman who spoke to his deputies was a former employee.
"He said that she was terminated and no longer working there," Garrett said. "They've been inundated with calls all day since the incident happened."
Garrett said his deputies eventually ate lunch at Becky's in Turbeville, where they told the story.
"From there, it just took off, and it's gotten back around that the entire restaurant told them they aren't welcome, and that's not true; it was just rudeness from one employee," Garrett said. "When you find out an owner has terminated an employee for an adverse action, you can't get any more responsive than that. I feel confident that everything is cleared up, and I don't want anyone thinking ill of the owner or the other employees there. I want to be clear that there is absolutely no reason to be upset with Subway or the great people that work there. My deputies will continue to eat there, and you should, too."
