PHOENIX --
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is warning his deputies to use caution when eating at McDonald's restaurants.
That warning came a day after a uniformed deputy reported being verbally harassed by employees at a McDonald's in Mesa. The deputy said workers made hateful comments in Spanish and called him a racist.
The deputy refused to eat the meal he had been served, fearing that it may have been tampered with, according to the sheriff's office.
The restaurant was one of several Valley McDonald's locations targeted by the sheriff's office in an immigration raid last March. Four suspected illegal immigrants were arrested on suspicion of identity theft.
"I am not asking my employees to avoid McDonald's completely," Arpaio said. "But I do think that anytime one of them is in uniform or driving a marked vehicle, out of an abundance of caution, he or she should use some discretion when deciding where to eat."
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