PITTSBURGH, PA (WCMH) — When the officers sat down to eat their dinner, a couple next to them stood up and moved to the other side of the restaurant.

“The guy looks over at one of the police officers and was like ‘nah I don’t want to sit here,'” server Jesse Meyers told WTAE.

Homestead Police Officer Chuck Thomas said, “And I said ‘It’s okay sir you won’t have to worry about it, we won’t hurt you’ and he looked at me hard again and said he’s not sitting here and walked away.”

But instead of being angry about the encounter, Thomas paid for the couple’s food.

On the receipt he wrote, “Sir, your check was paid for by the police officers that you didn’t want to sit next to. Thank you for your support.”

He also left the server a 35 percent tip.

“Essentially I was, the whole goal of it, was to let him know that we’re not here to hurt you, we’re not here for that.  We’re here for you. We work for the public and we just want to better the relationship between the community and the police,” said Thomas.What others are clicking on: