Posted on 08/02/2017 12:34:34 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Did you happen to see a 1,700-pound barbecue pit atop a two-wheel trailer traveling down Albuquerque streets “ashes and smoke billowing out of the back” early Sunday morning? Daniel Morgan, proprietor of Pepper’s Ole Fashion BBQ, wants to know.
Morgan said a thief took the black and red 200-gallon smoker from his restaurant’s parking lot on San Pedro and Copper between midnight and 5 a.m. Sunday. The smoker was cooking up a batch of brisket when it was taken.
“What on God’s earth do you think they would want with it?” Morgan asked Sunday evening, later wondering if the person or people responsible got a whiff of the “meat smell.”
“You know what, I wouldn’t be surprised,” he said.
Morgan said most of the meat the restaurant serves is prepared in an indoor barbecue pit and he uses the custom built apparatus for catering gigs. Replacing the $5,800 smoker and the trailer it was sitting on when it was stolen will be a stretch, he said.
Pepper’s was featured in May on the Cooking Channel show “Big Bad BBQ Brawl.” He said that he saw an uptick in business as a result of that appearance, but that saving enough to buy a replacement smoker will be a challenge.
“It’s gonna throw a big blow to the little consistent income we do have,” he said.
Morgan said he considered launching a crowdfunding page to help cover the costs of a replacement, but he’s holding off on that for now.
“We’re just gonna let people know that we will take prayers before money,” he said. “That’s what we need most of all.”
His own security footage didn’t capture the theft, but he’s hoping cameras on nearby businesses caught a glimpse of the vehicle pulling the smoker away.
“I felt like someone had stolen my bike when I was 10 years old,” he said. When that happened, Morgan said, he cried to his mother and threw a hissy fit. “I was mad at the world.”
Now his mother is gone, and he again finds himself disgusted that someone took something that “wasn’t theirs to take.”
“Here it is 40 years later,” he said, “and I have no one to cry to, and I’m too tired to throw a hissy fit.”
Old News
Already happened to Homer Simpson.
A morbidly obese man was seen chaining it to the back of his mobility scooter....
Well, I didn't see that. But did see this a year or two back....
Road Kill Grill?
Another crime against humanity.
One big porker!
Albuquerque is in the middle of a very serious crime wave that has been ramping up for more than a decade. Every evening on the local news, it’s a parade of police lights, crime scene tape, and mug shots before the first round of car/truck commercials, yet very little is being done to actually stop it. Lots of hand wringing, lots of victims groups, lots of lip service, but no three-strikes, no enhanced sentencing, and the revolving door justice system isn’t helping. Every year the criminals get more brazen. Virtually everyone involved in a serious crime seems to have a record longer than your arm documenting their criminal careers from amateur to professional, and yet they were wandering around at-large thanks to some liberal judge and public defender that got them off with a plea deal and ankle monitor.
Scrappers.......but hopefully not.
“What on God’s earth do you think they would want with it?” Morgan asked “
The thieves also stole a beer truck.
Partay...
5.56mm
Ya gotta put a lock on the hitch unless you want someone to drive off with your trailer.
Perhaps he should have had insurance on his business equipment?
Not a proper hitch lock like the ones I use. They are designed so there is no place to navigate a bolt cutters or a hacksaw blade into bolt. They could have cut through the body of the lock but it would have taken quite a while. Which is the best you can hope for I guess. Still, it is a far better thing to have one installed than not.
Then they’ll just show up with an acetylene torch.
Yeah...that wouldn't draw any attention and would certainly make for a quick get away.
But, if you're gonna lock it, best to have it manned or supervised. I think they will from now on.
There is a hardware/lawnmower type store just blocks from here. They’ve been around since the 1970’s. A few months ago, the daughter of the elderly owner was on the news in tears because they had been broken into so many times their theft insurance tapped out. They put welded iron bars all around the place. Weeks later, surveillance cameras captured theives chaining the bars to the bumper of a truck and pulling them down like they weren’t even there to rob them yet again. Every laboror I know, brings their equipment inside every night. I know a woman whose car has been broken into so many times, she simply leaves it unlocked with nothing of value inside. It’s a crime wave anyway you slice it.
Probably got lost coming back from Vegas, smelled the meat cooking, and since we got the munchies at 2 AM figured it was a good idea.
Might a well grab some brews too!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.