The owner of Isy Bell's restaurant has
issued a Facebook apology for apparently kicking three Mooresville
police detectives out of his establishment during lunch yesterday.
“I am deeply sorry for the words that
I spoke,” reads a statement that Owner Mike Kabouris posted on Isy Bells' Facebook page earlier this afternoon. “I
welcome all detectives and officers into my establishment. The world
needs more people like you to protect our community.”
Calling the incident a
“misunderstanding,” Kabouris' statement continued: “Isy
Bell's Cafe welcomes all law enforcement and has the utmost respect
for you.”
But apparently, officers haven't felt
welcomed or respected by Kabouris for quite some time. Of yesterday's
incident, Mooresville Police Chief Carl Robbins said: “I
don't know the story behind his reasoning, but I have known for a
long time that he does not care for us.”
While the detectives themselves aren't
speaking officially about what happened, Facebook has been abuzz the
past 24 hours with statuses and messages about yesterday's incident,
some of them speculating that Kabouris is angry at local
law-enforcement officers because of the September arrest of his son
for speeding to elude arrest.
Kabouris wasn't available for comment
at Isy Bell's this afternoon.
“In all fairness to him,” said
Robbins, “I don't know if his displeasure is directed toward all
law enforcement or just the Mooresville Police Department.”
Robbins said police officers must
understand that “some people will not like us as law-enforcement
officers for a variety of reasons.” However, he said, “We have to
accept this and continue to treat everyone with respect and fairness.
“As a business owner, (Kabouris) can
make decisions that we may not agree with, but we need to respect
them and stay above the fray as professional police officers.”
Robbins said Kabouris has not called
him to complain or to ban officers from Isy Bell's in general.
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