Jewelry Store Fires Manager After Uniformed Deputy Refused Entry

IREDELL COUNTY, NC — A store manager of an Iredell County jewelry store has been fired, days after refusing to allow a uniformed deputy inside the business to pick up an engagement ring he had purchased because he was carrying his service weapon, according to the company.

The firing of the Kay Jewelers employee from the store located at 187 Turnersburg Hwy in Statesville seemed all but inevitable after the Iredell County Sheriff’s Office complained about the deputy being told to return to the store when he was not armed on its Facebook page, provoking massive public backlash aimed at the corporation.

"The deputy took his meal break to pick up the ring, and was met at the door by the store manager, who informed him he was not allowed to wear his service weapon while on their premises," Iredell County Sheriff's Office said in the Facebook post. "The deputy informed the manager he was in uniform and his marked patrol car was in the parking lot, and it would be a violation of policy for him to remove his service weapon while in uniform."

The incident the deputy encountered was "very difficult for us to comprehend," the sheriff's office said.

RELATED: Iredell Deputy In Uniform Denied Entry To Jewelry Store

By Thursday afternoon, the corporate office of Kay Jewelers confirmed the firing on its Facebook page, saying, “The store manager is no longer employed by the company.”

Once the company learned of the incident, it reached out to the officer and the sheriff’s office “and we sincerely apologized for the mishandling of this matter,” Kay Jewelers said in the statement. “After learning of an incident involving a law enforcement officer in Iredell County, North Carolina, Kay Jewelers reached out immediately to the customer and the Iredell County Sheriff’s Office, and we sincerely apologized for the mishandling of this matter,” the company said.

“Our policy is that any member of law enforcement is always welcomed in our store at any time, as a customer or in an official capacity,” Kay Jewelers said. “We are reinforcing store training regarding all of our Customer First policies, as well as specific policies related to law enforcement, in all of our stores.”

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