TUNKHANNOCK -- The owner of pizza shops in Lackawanna and Wyoming Counties says he owes a lot to the police officers who frequent his shops, so he's offering them a deal that he says will never expire.
Anthony Warenzak considers himself a good businessman. He recently opened a second location of Newsie's Pizza in Tunkhannock. But he admits he wasn't thinking about the business when he crafted its latest promotion: free pizza for police.
"I think they put their lives at risk all the time," said Warenzak. "It's just to show support for them, positive thing to do, that's kind of why I did it."
He had the idea last week following the death of a police officer in western Pennsylvania.
As long as an officer is in uniform, he'll offer a free slice in Tunkhannock or in the original location in Dalton.
Newsie's Pizza did something many other pizza shops might shy away from. The promotion for police will last indefinitely. That's a lot of pizza.
"As long as I own Newsies Pizza, whether I fail out of it or succeed out of it, I'll continue to do that," he said.
It means a lot to Newsie's employee Missy Walker. Her brother is a Scranton police officer.
"I can see many families thinking about their loved one who is fearless. They're the first ones there and they're ready to sacrifice anything just to help anybody they don't even know, so when we remember them for even the small things like this, it's important and I think we need to do that," Walker said.
The owner says in just a week, officers in Tunkhannock have already stopped in for a free slice. The cops in Wyoming and Lackawanna Counties say they appreciate the gesture, though they didn't want to talk about it on camera.
Customers appreciate it, too.
"From the standpoint of safety in the store, police will be coming in for a free slice of pizza, so they'll be in the store," said Waverly resident Jeff Thurston. "And then on the other hand, they work pretty hard hours. I used to be a supervisor in Waverly and I know how hard these guys work. It's always nice to give them a little something in the community."
