Anonymous Diner Picked Up Cops' Dinner Tab

A random act of kindness in a St. Petersburg pizza restaurant has folks talking.

The act in question occurred recently when a squad of officers from the city’s police department sat down to dinner before their shift began. It seems a patron at Pasiano’s saw the group and decided pizza was a great way to say “thank you” for their efforts in protecting and serving.

While the diner who paid wished to remain anonymous, he or she did leave a note behind on the fully paid check.

“To the officers – thank you for putting your lives on the line to make this town a safe and happy place to live and raise my kids. You are appreciated,” the person wrote at the top of the tab.

Dinner for the squad added up to $113.80, the police department noted on its Facebook page.

News of the random act of kindness broke Friday when the squad asked for its own thank you post to go up on Facebook.

“The officers in that squad wanted to put a shout out to whomever bought them dinner,” the agency explained.

Fans of the agency’s Facebook page are responding with their own words of kindness.

“I thank and give them hugs no matter where I am,” wrote one lady on the St. Pete department’s page. “Grocery store, airport, restaurant, even on the street.”

“That is so kind, thank you to whoever did this,” wrote another. “Also thank you to the awesome SPPD officers.”

The post had receive more than 1,000 likes within a few hours of going live.

The person’s decision to pick up the tab comes at a time when tensions between law enforcement and some citizens are running high. On the heels of high-profile, police-involved deaths in Missouri, New York and Maryland, law enforcement officers across the country are on alert as members of their own rank and file find themselves under fire. Since August began, a police officer in Memphis and one in Shreveport have been killed in the line of duty.

On Thursday evening, two Largo residents were accused of opening fire on a Clearwater Police Department substation. No injuries were reported in that incident that also left two nearby homes damaged from gunfire. Both men now face charges in what police say was an attack meant to specifically target them.

Photo courtesy of the St. Petersburg Police Department