Cheesecake Factory's free slice promotion sparks fights, arrest in Arlington

Cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory.
(Image credit: Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images for Feeding America)

If there's one thing in life worth fighting for, it's apparently cheesecake.

To celebrate its 40th anniversary, The Cheesecake Factory announced it would be giving out 40,000 free slices across its locations Wednesday. But the promise of silky sweetness turned sour as the promotion started in Arlington, Virginia, ARL Now reports.

The promotion, which promised a free slice of cheesecake to anyone ordering delivery through DoorDash, started at 11:30 a.m. at locations nationwide. Not long after, police were dispatched to Arlington's Cheesecake Factory amid reports of "a large crowd and heavy traffic," per ARL Now. Police barely left the scene when they got another call. This time, there was apparently a fight going on, but police didn't find one when they arrived.

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Despite this restaurant being a place for families who drive Camrys, police and medics did find a "hectic" scene of delivery drivers and double parking, a department spokeswoman told ARL Now. Police tried to "calm the situation down," the spokeswoman said, but one person wouldn't listen, started fighting with police, and was arrested. He was sent to a hospital to be checked for injuries and will likely be charged with disorderly conduct.

Read more about this developing story at ARL Now, because it's definitely too late to fight your way to a slice now.

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Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.