Five Guys Fires Employee Over 'Piggies' Insult To Howell Police

HOWELL, NJ — Howell Township Police Chief Andrew J. Kudrick Jr. says he has accepted the apology of the owner of the local Five Guys Burgers and Fries after a former employee called Howell police officers "piggies" on Friday night.

Kudrick, in a post on the Howell Township Police Department's Facebook page on Saturday, said the incident that happened Friday night had been resolved. "Let's move on from this," he wrote.

The incident at the Five Guys, 4220 Route 9 in Howell, happened Friday evening when Howell police officers stopped in for their dinner break. As the officers walked in, one employee shouted "piggies" and "get out the pork," according to a post on the Howell Happenings NJ private group page by the owner of Ultimate Tree Service, who witnessed the incident. A manager also reportedly laughed, according to the post.

The post said the officers left Five Guys immediately. Kudrick confirmed his officers had reported the incident to him. Screenshots of the Ultimate Tree Service post circulated quickly, and sparked a furor from Howell residents, who spoke out in support of the police department and vowed to boycott the restaurant.

Just as quickly, however, the management and ownership of Five Guys were responding, Kudrick said Saturday.

Steve Gilmartin, owner of the Howell Five Guys, contacted the Howell Happenings page administrator and issued a statement through them saying the employee had been fired and that they have a zero tolerance policy for such behavior.

"I am writing you to address the terrible situation that occured in the restaurant tonight," Gilmartin's message said. "An employee insulted members of the Howell Township Police Department when they came in to dine this evening. The employee in question was terminated immediately as Five Guys has a zero tolerance policy for such situations. Our franchise and the owners are all staunch supporters of law enforcement and have held functions in support of both local police as well as the NJSP."

"I would like to take this opportunity to publicly apologize to both the Howell PD as well as the people of Howell for this occurrence," he wrote. "To say I was shocked and embarrassed by this would be a gross understatement."

Kudrick, in his follow-up on Saturday, said Gilmartin, the owner, and Courtney, the area manager of the Five Guys, met with him at police headquarters and reiterated the apology.

"The conversation was meaningful," Kudrick wrote. "Both were genuinely upset and stressed over this incident. They also requested to issue a public statement condemning the incident while strongly supporting law enforcement."

Kudrick also had lunch at Five Guys with Courtney on Saturday and met with the manager who was reported to have laughed.

"His reaction was a result of him being uncomfortable and somewhat taken back by the employee’s conduct," Kudrick wrote. "He was the one who immediately notified Courtney who then terminated the employee."

"I am confident this incident was handled swiftly and appropriately," he wrote. "The employee was terminated even before this incident made it to social media. I believe this is to be an isolated incident caused by a poor decision by a part-time employee. It is definitely not the culture of this business. In fact, management and ownership is overwhelmingly supportive of law enforcement. This includes not only how they handled this incident but their previous history as well."

Gilmartin announced that a fundraiser will be held at the Howell Five Guys on Wednesday from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., where during those two hours 100 percent of the sales will be donated to the Howell PBA. A flyer was distributed to Howell Happenings NJ and is included at the bottom of this article.

Kudrick thanked the community for its support but urged residents to support the Howell Five Guys as well.

"The action of one is not a reflection of all," Kudrick wrote. "I encourage you to continue to support this business and come out this Wednesday as they host a law enforcement appreciation event."

"On behalf of all my officers, thank you for the overwhelming amount of support you have shown us," he said. "We are privileged to serve in such an amazing community. Let’s move on from this."

Gilmartin's apology:

Kudrick's Saturday update:

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