ARLINGTON, Texas — A second restaurant is now accusing a Fort Worth cafe of stealing its equipment, a week after a popular barbecue joint said DayBreak Cafe was in on the theft of a $30,000 smoker trailer from its parking lot.
Paul Checkeye, the owner of Grease Monkey Burger, said thieves in a distinctive white van made off with a 19-foot food truck trailer in mid-December. He said surveillance video makes him think it's the same white van that stole from Panther City BBQ on New Year's Day.
"It’s the same guys. We got 'em! This is the big lead," Checkeye said.
Watch our full interview with Paul Checkeye here:
The owner of Panther City, Chris Magallanes, said he used a GPS tracker to recover his stolen trailer in the lot next to the DayBreak Cafe in Fort Worth. Magallanes said he then spent weeks surveilling the lot next to the cafe and keeping track of the white van, which he said returned multiple times with other trailers, including at least one other reported stolen.
Magallanes installed a camera overlooking the vacant lot and said it appeared DayBreak Cafe owner Mario Garcia knew the driver of the van.
Garcia again denied the accusation on Monday and told WFAA he knows nothing about the thefts. Garcia said he can't keep tabs on everyone who parks in his lot -- and he's tired of this beef.
Police haven't filed any charges. "I'm hopeful that we're going to catch these guys, but the trailer's gone," Checkeye said. "We're not going to be able to recover that."
Arlington police said its investigators have been in contact with Fort Worth police and are looking into whether the thefts from Grease Monkey Burger and Panther City BBQ are tied together.
"While we can’t definitively say at this point whether they’re connected, they did note that there are similarities between the two cases," a Fort Worth police spokesperson said.
A Fort Worth Police spokesperson also said there were no updates on its case as of Monday.
Checkeye is counting on someone to help with tips that could lead to the arrest of the thieves. "Somebody knows something," he said. "Somebody's gotta come through."
If anyone has any information about the case or believes they’ve seen the trailer, Arlington police ask them to call Investigator Armendariz at (817) 459-5590.