Mancini Pizzeria In New Jersey Accused Of Writing Insult On Officer’s Pizza Box

Mancini Pizza is accused of writing “pig” on an officer’s pizza box. They provided a photo of what they say is the offending box.

Mancini Pizza Denies Writing ‘Pig’ On Pizza Box, Police Union Stands By Claim

East Brunswick, New Jersey – A New Jersey pizza restaurant is under a social media assault over a claim an employee wrote “pig” on a pizza box on August 1 in front of an officer, something the family owners say is a misunderstanding and inaccurate.

Mancini Pizza has been blitzed with criticism on the internet after an East Brunswick Police Officer reportedly noticed the insult.

The claims on social media are copied and reposted, without being shared, making the original source unclear. Now, people who have seen the message are calling for a boycott on the restaurant.

Mancini’s Yelp page was put on an “active cleanup alert”  because the page was bombarded with comments about the “pig” allegation and promoting a boycott.

“While we don’t take a stand one way or the other when it comes to these news events, we do work to remove both positive and negative posts that appear to be motivated more by the news coverage itself than the reviewer’s personal consumer experience with the business,” the Yelp’s support team wrote on Mancini’s Yelp page.

Vitangelo Mancini, an employee of the pizza restaurant, said he went to the East Brunswick Police Department to get to the bottom of the situation and he said the police said they didn’t know how it started.

“The Mancini family has supported all people in service you can ask any officers who come in and continue to come in,” Mancini said.

The allegation was picked up by MyCentralJersey.com newspaper. In that article, Frankie Mancini gave a more detail explanation of the events.

He stated there was a misunderstanding of markings the employees used while preparing orders.

“Every pizza box, or every order, has a number on it and a marking of what the pizza is when it comes out,” Frankie Mancini told the newspaper.

“So, if it’s a plain pie, we put ‘P.’ If it’s a margarita pie we put ‘M.'” Frankie Mancini said that the police officer saw a pizza box containing a slice of pizza and garlic twists. That pizza box had a ‘P’ written on it for the plain slice and a squiggly symbol to represent the garlic twists, according to the store’s owners.

“The officer thought that was her order,” Frankie Mancini said. “Meanwhile, she ordered a panini, which goes in a single bag. It doesn’t go in a box.”

Mancini Pizza claims that the officer started yelling, “What did you write?” to the employee. Frankie Mancini said  that his brother was working that day and told the officer the box did not contain her food and showed it to the officer. The officer’s panini order was still in the oven, according to the restaurant.

Mancini Pizza provided a photo which shows what they say is the box which offended the officer. We have been unable to confirm if this is actually the offending pizza box or a recreation by the restaurant.

The East Brunswick Police Benevolent Association Local 145 isn’t buying Mancini Pizza’s story.

“While waiting for her food to be prepared, an incident occurred where an employee used a pizza box to transcribe a derogatory comment directed toward the officer,” the police union posted on Facebook.

“After confronting the employee, the officer left without reimbursement or the food she purchased.  The East Brunswick PBA fully supports the officer involved and is troubled over this unprovoked and unsettling incident.

“The officer refutes the claims made by Mancini Pizza regarding the matter and we stand by her account of the event. We consider this to be an affront to the officer involved, the East Brunswick Police Department, and the entire law enforcement community.”

The East Brunswick Police Department said it is investigating the incident and released a statement.

“The recent incident at Mancini Pizza is currently under investigation by the East Brunswick Police Department,” the statement attributed to Police Chief James Conroy said.

“I have met with a representative of Mancini Pizza and I am aware of the fact that this has attracted comments and attention on social media. The East Brunswick Police Department is committed to building and maintaining our positive relationship with our community.

“We have a group of the finest and most professional law enforcement officers and staff whom I fully trust and support. There will be no further comments while this matter is being investigated. Thank you, Chief James Conroy.”