Texas Roadhouse donates 100% of Tuesday’s profits to support LMPD Officer Nick Wilt

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - The packed parking lots and long wait times at Texas Roadhouse on Tuesday were all in honor of Louisville officer Nickolas Wilt.

It’s Wilt Week, and Texas Roadhouses all over the city donated 100% of Tuesday’s profits to the LMPD foundation to support Wilt’s recovery.

“He’s been asking for a steak dinner for a couple of weeks now,” Wilt’s twin brother, Zack, said last Friday. “And you bet we’re going to get him a steak dinner tonight.”

It’s unclear where Wilt got that steak from after he was released from the hospital last week.

But on Tuesday, hundreds, if not thousands of people in Louisville, were having steak dinners in honor of him.

“Give me a big ol’ steak and a couple of sides,” James Newton at the Outer Loop Texas Roadhouse said. “Fried pickles, all the good stuff.”

Messages were written in chalk honoring Wilt.

“We filled the entire restaurant as soon as we opened,” Outer Loop Service Manager Jennifer Daugherty said. “We went on a wait 15 minutes after we opened.”

Picking up or dining in didn’t matter, there were limited places to stand inside the building. The line extended outside, where people like Newton were waiting.

“I’m really happy to see a lot of people come out and support him,” Newton said. “It shows that as a community we’re really close-knit.”

Newton said it means a lot to him to see so much support for Wilt.

“People in my family are police officers, and I’d hope the same would happen if it happened to them,” he said.

It was a similar scene at the St. Matthews Texas Roadhouse. The crowd was spilling out of the door.

“It really shows what we can do as a community to help our fellow brothers and sisters, and I’m just honored to be a part of it,” said Texas Roadhouse Store Marketer Heather Sommermeyer.

Despite being told the wait could be well over an hour, some people didn’t mind.

“With the wait whatever it is, two hours, it’s worth it,” Newton said. “It’s going towards him.”

“We know where you can get a steak,” Daughtry said. “Come right on in, and we will take care of your steak dinner for sure.”

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