CAT WILSON/CCB MEDIA
Army Veteran Curtis Frye of Falmouth (R) with his service dog Nick and Yarmouth Police Deputy Chief Steven Xiarhos (L). Nick is named after Xiarhos’s son, Marine Cpl. Nicholas Xiarhos.
FALMOUTH – A local army veteran says his rights were violated after he was asked to leave a Verizon store in South Carolina for having his service dog with him.
Curtis Frye of Falmouth, a 20-year army veteran who saw time in Iraq and Kosovo, was travelling to Florida when he stopped at a Verizon Store in Florence, South Carolina.
Frye said a manager asked him to leave the store because he had his dog Nick with him, despite a sign at the store saying they allowed service dogs. Frye said he objected but eventually left the store.
“I had all these eyes just staring at me. It’s not a comfortable situation for any veteran just in general, but especially with PTSD and depression and anxiety and all the things I deal with. It was overwhelming,” Frye said, who also called the experiencing humiliating and difficult.
Verizon has since apologized for the incident. Frye said he is still exploring legal action against the company, but said he wants to focus his efforts on raising awareness for the rights of disabled individuals.
Fyre called his relationship with his dog Nick, a four-year old Golden Retriever, special. Nick is named after Marine Cpl. Nicholas Xiarhos of Yarmouth, who was killed in Afghanistan in 2009.
“He’s everything to me,” Frye said. “He’s keeping me alive. . . . I know he’s there for me.”
