Officers pay bill for diners who didn’t want to sit near them

The police officers were eating at an Eat N' Park restaurant in Pennsylvania when the couple walked in.

Jesse Meyers, a server at the restaurant, tried to seat the couple at a table near the officers, according to WTAE. But the couple refused to sit there.

“A table goes to sit down and the guy looks over at one of the police officers and was like, ‘Nah, I don’t want to sit here,’” Meyers said. “So they got moved completely opposite, away from the police officers.”

Officer Chuck Thomas said it was obvious to them that the couple didn’t want to sit near police officers.

“I looked over and said, ‘It’s okay sir. You won't have to worry about it, we won’t hurt you,’” Thomas said. “He looked at me hard again and said he’s not sitting here and walked away.”

But rather than react with irritation or hate, the officers decided an act of kindness would accomplish more. Thomas and another officer at the table suggested paying for the couple’s check and asked Meyers to bring their bill.

It was $28.50, and the officers also left a $10 tip, according to WTAE.

“Sir, your check was paid for by the police officers that you didn’t want to sit next to,” the officers wrote on the check. “Thank you for your support.”

Thomas said he wanted the couple to know that even if they had bad experiences with police in the past, he was there to protect them and not hurt them.

“Essentially the whole goal of it was to let him know that we’re not here to hurt you, we’re not here for that,” Thomas said. “We’re here for you. We work for the public. And we just want to better the relationship between the community and the police.”

The officers said they got a smile and a thank you from the couple as they left.

This story was originally published July 12, 2016 at 12:41 PM with the headline "Officers pay bill for diners who didn’t want to sit near them."