By Police1 Staff
PLEASANT HILLS, Pa. — A woman who went to a local Party City to buy blue and black balloons for a fallen officer alleges that she was refused service.
WPXI reported Karly Lane told the employee the balloons were for a memorial service for her friend, Officer Robert Gogo Jr., who died last month in an off-duty motorcycle accident. The clerk told her she refused to support a police officer and had another employee take over.
“How can you not support a police officer? It doesn’t matter. They don’t know my brother,” GoGo’s sister Jennifer Martino told the station. “They don’t know what kind of man he was. They don’t know what he did in his job. It just hurts.”
Party City’s corporate offices released a statement saying “Party City is committed to our customers and the community. Corporate management is looking into the matter to uncover what transpired and will take action accordingly.”
Since Lane posted the original complaint on Facebook, she’s spoken with the chief operating officer who updated her on the investigation.
Party City said it’s holding “an immediate sensitivity training and code of conduct refresher” and they’ve made donations in Officer Gogo’s name to the Duquesne Police Department.
Party city stated they “absolutely do not condone this type of behavior and are taking the situation very seriously.”