A pair of sticky-fingered thieves stole more than 500,000 frozen shrimp worth more than $300,000 and the truck they were transported in, in a bizarre heist caught on camera. Law and Crime And WCAU reported.
The abandoned truck driver, who declined to identify himself, discovered the theft when he returned to the parking lot in Middlesex, New Jersey, where he had parked the vehicle. The delivery was headed to a Costco in Monroe Township, less than 30 miles from Middlesex. Surveillance video from the parking lot reportedly showed a pair of thieves driving the truck away in the “late morning” hours of September 5, just before the truck's owner arrived on the scene.
“When I entered the yard I couldn't see my truck,” he recalled. “I don't understand what happened. Where is my truck? It's just me and my truck, and now I've been out of work for a week,” the driver complained. “I tried to apply, [but] I have to keep waiting.” He hopes the two men will be caught and his truck will be returned to him.
The thieves were apparently unaware the truck contained shrimp, as the shipment was later found dumped about 16 miles away. The estimated 500,000 frozen shrimp were worth about $305,000, but authorities were skeptical about how the criminals planned to hide or sell the 25,000 pounds of contraband before it expired. Apparently, they never planned to do so.
But, strangely, officers saw on security footage that two men had broken into four other trailers on the property in the first week of September. For some reason, they chose not to steal those vehicles and instead moved on to the one full of shrimp.
“We see everything. Nothing surprises us,” said Middlesex Police Detective Sergeant Sean Flanagan WCAU“This is part of [the job]We are seeing some strange crimes being reported.” But Mr Flanagan admitted this incident was “absolutely unusual”. “We’ve never had anything like this in Middlesex Borough before,” he admitted.