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Back in glizzy-ness: Stolen hot dog truck recovered by police
The Urban Hot Dog Co. mobile kitchen and truck were stolen May 1. The truck and trailer have both been recovered by Albuquerque Police Department officers.
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A stolen hot dog truck will be serving up franks once again after Albuquerque Police Department officers located the vehicle at a smoke shop in the International District.
Albuquerque resident, Moorman Young, 46, was arrested and charged Tuesday with receiving or transferring a stolen vehicle. Moorman hadn’t been assigned a defense attorney.
The hot dog truck and trailer belong to Urban Hot Dog Co., a joint with locations in Nob Hill and the West Side serving up eclectic franks and fixings. The truck and trailer were stolen from a storage facility in Northeast Albuquerque on May 1, said owner Matthew Bernabe.
The trailer was ditched and recovered by police the following day, Bernabe said.
On Tuesday, police watched Young and a woman get out of the stolen white Dodge pickup truck in the parking lot of 118 San Pedro SE, according to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court. Then the pair abandoned the vehicle and got on a city bus, and police tailed them to Wyoming and Central.
Witnesses told police that the pair had ditched the truck because its battery died and boarded the bus looking for a replacement, according to the complaint. Young told police he had no idea the vehicle was stolen, despite the visibly destroyed key ignition and broken door handle.
This isn’t the first time Bernabe’s dealt with theft and vandalism.
On the same night in January, both Urban Hot Dog Co. locations were hit — the Nob Hill location with a brick through the window and the West Side restaurant by skilled burglars who removed a window, stole a safe full of cash and then reinstalled the window, Bernabe said.
“Bad things happen in threes, and this was just the third one for me,” Bernabe said of the truck and trailer theft.
Bernabe is still assessing damages to the stolen vehicles, he said, but is glad to have them recovered. Despite this “bad luck,” Bernabe isn’t discouraged about doing business in Albuquerque.
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“Bad things happens everywhere and they happen in every city, and not to say Albuquerque doesn’t have its problems, but we’re also pretty great,” Bernabe said.
