Police called on Georgia college student trying to buy homeless man food: ‘I thought I was gonna get arrested’

A woman attempting to purchase food for a homeless man from a Popeyes store in Atlanta, Georgia, had the police called on her.

Jo Ortega, a student at Georgia State University, said she was picking up an order for DoorDash at the Popeyes location last month when she saw a man who seemed hungry.

She decided to order the man some chicken, but claims employees at the store near Ponce de Leon Ave would not allow the transaction. Ortega posted a video of the interaction on TikTok and it quickly went viral.

“No ma’am, you can’t do it,” one employee told her in the video.

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Ortega responded, “Why? He’s asking for food?”

“Ma’am, you can’t do it. I could care less about you recording me, baby,” another employee replied before shutting the drive-thru window.

Ortega said Popeyes workers then called the police on her.

“At that moment I was terrified, I thought I was gonna get arrested,” she told FOX 5 Atlanta. “Maybe I should just call my family, and I might not be coming home tonight.”

Atlanta Police confirmed to Fox News Digital that they were called to the incident and said no arrests were made.

“Units arrived on the scene, and the caller was already gone. The call was cleared with no arrest/no report,” Public Information Officer Benjamin Hopson said.

Ortega told Fox 5 officers thanked her for trying to buy the homeless man food.

“The officer pulled me to the side and said, ‘I really thank you for doing that, thank you for buying him food. I appreciate that,’” Ortega said.

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She said they eventually got in touch with a general manager at the store who felt awful about the incident and allowed Ortega and the man to order anything they wanted that night for free.

In a follow-up video, the man, named Jazz, thanked Ortega for helping him get food.

“My name is Jazz and thanks,” he said while holding a Popeyes cup.

Popeyes said in a statement to FOX 5 that the company is “committed to treating everyone with dignity and respect.” 

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“We have ensured all employees at this restaurant have been provided with retraining to help navigate a range of guest interactions, such as the situation highlighted in the video,” the statement continued.

Popeyes did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Ortega has started an online fundraiser to help Jazz find a place to live.