Florida Beer Thieves Steal 44,000 Pounds Of Miller High Life From A Truck

A thief – or group of thieves – will be living the High Life this weekend, after making off with a tractor trailer with over 44,000 pounds of beer from an Orlando truck stop.

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the semi full of beer was stolen at the same time as another truck at the same truck stop, leading police to believe that truck-stealing gang may have been targeting that particular truck stop.

Truck driver Van Thomas broke down in tears when talking to a reporter about the beer theft.

Mr. Thomas had been working as a truck driver for several years before finally saving up the money to buy his own truck. He bought his first rig about three weeks ago, and was taking the load of beer – 9,700 4-packs, according to the Sun Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale) – from Texas to Pompano Beach when he made the ill-timed decision to stop in Orlando.

“I don’t mean to cry about it but I’m just trying to do the best I can and make a better life. It’s just so devastating to me.”

Truck-theft rings have been known to target unattended trucks in order to “fence” their cargo – that is, sell it on the black market – according to trucking-industry magazine Overdrive. This summer, a trucking fleet owner pleaded guilty to operating a ring that cruised truck stops looking for unattended trailers, then hooking them and stealing them.

Sometimes the thieves get valuable cargo, such as iPads or HDTV’s – or beer – but oftentimes they wind up with something completely useless or even dangerous. Truck thieves have made off with Hershey’s chocolate, Slimfast, and even nuclear waste.

Fortunately for Mr. Van, he got a call from Miami detectives a few hours after his 44,000-pound load of beer was stolen: his truck has been found!

“Oh my God, that’s beautiful!”

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that “most” of his cargo of Miller High Life was found along with the truck. As of this post, it’s not clear what exactly is mean by “most,” but even if the beer thieves only stole 1 percent of his load, that’s still 97 4-packs.

That’s more than enough stolen beer for a long weekend of living The High Life in Miami.

[Image courtesy of: A Continuous Lean]