Cobb County Sheriff Craig Owens, up for re-election this year, called police for backup following his botched Burger King order, according to body camera footage obtained by local news network WSB-TV.
Following the call, three deputies were dispatched to the restaurant and approached Owens, who was not in his uniform or in his sheriff's office vehicle.
"Hey, do me a favor. I need to get, all I need is the owner name of whoever owns this damn facility or the manager," Owens can be heard saying to one deputy.
"I wanted her [to get his female passenger] a Whopper, no mayo, cut in half, right?" he continued.
"I don’t need no damn money back no more. I just need to find out who owns this place so I can do an official complaint."
The deputies did not question the situation and attempted to enter the restaurant, but the employees locked themselves inside, the footage showed.
After convincing the employees to open the doors, one deputy told the assistant manager, "Nobody is in trouble; we just want to get some names."
"There isn't even going to be a report written," the deputy can be heard saying, adding, "That guy out there, he's just going to file a complaint for his food."
After leaving the restaurant, the sheriff can be heard laughing, asking the deputies if they’d told the staff who he was.
"No. I just told him it was the guy out in the truck," The deputy responded.
Owens’ election challenger posted the video online
David Cavender, Owens’ challenger in the upcoming election this year, posted the video to Facebook on Friday.
"I think it’s an abuse of power," Mike Dondelinger, who Cavender intends to make his chief deputy, told WSB-TV.
"I'm shocked the sheriff feels so flippant about this issue that he would have deputies run lights and sirens, placing citizens at risk and his deputies at risk, just so he could get information from a business owner that clearly could have been followed up on another day," Dondelinger said.
However, the sheriff maintained to the local news network that he was off duty, never identified himself as police, and did not ask that the responders behave differently because of his status. Therefore, it was a business dispute that any citizen could make.
"Whether as a Command Sergeant Major, or a major in the Cobb Police Department, or as sheriff, I have always worked to build confidence and trust in leadership," he said. "To our citizens and residents, it is clear that I need to work harder, and I pledge to do so."
"Anything that takes away from that mission is a distraction, and for that, I am deeply sorry," Owens said.