Jewelry store turns away armed deputy picking up engagement ring, sheriff says

IREDELL COUNTY, N.C. — A North Carolina sheriff said one of his deputies was ready to propose to the love of his life, but he was turned away from a Statesville jewelry store.

The Iredell County Sheriff's Office said in a social media post Wednesday that the deputy was met at the door by the store manager, who told him he couldn't wear his service weapon on the premises.

The sheriff said his deputy bought an engagement ring, had it sized and went to pick it up from the Kay Jewelers in Statesville while on his lunch break Tuesday.

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“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 Iredell County Sheriff’s Office said in the post.

A couple hours later, Kay Jewelers sent WSOC-TV the following statement:

“Kay Jewelers is reaching out to the customer and the Iredell County Sheriff’s Office to sincerely apologize for the mishandling of this matter. We have tremendous respect for law enforcement, and we thank the Office for bringing this to our attention. We will be sure to reinforce store training regarding our firearm policy with specific regard to uniformed law enforcement.”

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