An on-duty Chicago police sergeant reportedly got unwanted extra ingredients in her recent meal at a Chicago neighborhood Wendy's location — hair and dirt on a double cheeseburger.
An unnamed Chicago police officer said that she visited a Wicker Park Wendy's drive-through on Monday and ordered a meal around 1:30 a.m. local time.
The officer said that she paid for the food and left the drive-through and began eating her meal.
She said that as she began to eat, she discovered hair and dirt in her food, prompting her to go inside the restaurant and confront an employee over the incident.
According to reports, the employee was "dismissive" of the officer's complaint.
Newsweek reported that "[a]n internal email" stated that a "lieutenant on the scene told police officers the manager of the fast food outlet 'gave [the sergeant] attitude' and 'would not take her complaint seriously. All the manager would do is offer her a refund.'"
The officer — who declined medical treatment — also reportedly became ill at the scene and threw up "several times."
The Chicago Police Department told the outlet that detectives are investigating the incident.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Wendy's said, "The quality and integrity of our food is our number one priority and we take any food-related claims extremely seriously."
"We have been in touch with representatives from the Chicago Police Department and will fully investigate this matter," the statement continued. "We have great respect for law enforcement and their service to our communities."
No charges have been filed in connection with the incident at the time of this reporting.
The Chicago Sun-Times posted about the incident on Facebook, prompting heavy discussion.
One user wrote, "This is what happens when local and national government try to make the police the enemy. There are bad apples of course but to make a blanket statement trying to defund the police and portray them as bad is a recipe for disaster."
"So this is what Lightfoot's City has become now???? Vote her OUT along with Foxx and Pritzker too," another user added.
Another user argued, "Perhaps the server knew something about this “officer” that we don’t. She may have deserved it. Many of them do!!"
"Yeah, I’ll wait for proof," another user spat. "There have been tons of stories like this and tons of those have been found to be made by attention seeking POS police officers looking for sympathy. Like the person making the food literally went outside and collected dirt? C’mon now."