'Hamburglar' heist: 400 cases of beef stolen in recent spate of Philadelphia cargo thefts
PHILADELPHIA - It seems Philadelphia may have its very own "Hamburglars" wreaking havoc on the city's meat supply!
Police say 400 cases of beef were stolen from the back of an unattended cargo truck early Tuesday morning.
The driver returned to find the remnants of the meat heist on the 2800 block of South 63rd Street just before 5 a.m.
South Philly steak heist: Boxes of beef stolen from back of truck near Lincoln Financial Field
Police are looking for five suspects after another tractor trailer was robbed overnight, with more than a dozen boxes of beef now missing.
This beef burglary is the latest in a recent spate of cargo thefts plaguing the city, totaling 11 since June 26.
Earlier this month, a driver was thrown to the ground after confronting a group of thieves.
Police believe a group of suspects driving a Dodge Durango and white SUV are connected to the crime spree.
Along Delaware Avenue in South Philly, trucks line the Ports of Philadelphia, delivering everything from meats, fruits, vegetables and more.
"I be on the road so much, you forget the days, you just know the dates because you just know the day you have to deliver," said Andrew Curry, a truck driver.
This afternoon, Curry is making a pit stop across state lines in New Jersey at a truck stop, but many times that isn’t the case because he says there’s a lack of truck stops in the Philadelphia Region.
"You only got 11 hours to drive, you got three hours to break, but when that time go out, a lot of times I find myself sleeping on the side of the road, in the truck, in an unsafe place," said Curry.
Which is where they become major targets.
"It’s definitely a crime ring, group of people, we’ve made arrests of members of this group, we believe it’s the same group," said Captain John Ryan, of the Philadelphia Police Department.
Police say they’ve been working with Federal and State officials to crackdown on this operation.
In the meantime some truck drivers say they’ve been advised by their companies not to even park near Philadelphia.
"What we do is park like a 100 miles out of Philly at a rest area or truck stop because we don’t want to risk anything," said Francisco Azurdia, a truck driver.
Police say earlier this year a driver was thrown to the ground after confronting a group of thieves, which authorities urge drivers not to do.
For many of these drivers, it’s frustrating that they are being targeted in the first place.
"We still have to get our rest, I mean we are driving all night, we are driving all morning and then you got to worry about not getting proper rest because you have to keep one eye open and keep peeking out just to make sure the lock is still on the back of the truck," said Curry.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the department.