Beer producer Pabst Blue Ribbon reported the theft of 40,000 pounds of its beer from a distribution center in Montclair, California.
According to The New York Times, that could amount to roughly 50,000 stolen 12-ounce cans of beer, though the company did not specify the exact breakdown of the cargo.
“Approximately $25,000 worth of Anheuser-Busch/Pabst Blue Ribbon product was obtained after a purported subcontracting company submitted fraudulent documentation to arrange the pickup” on August 17, the Montclair Police Department said in a statement on August 28.
Four days after the theft, Pabst issued a warning on Instagram: “Pabst is officially starting the clock now — you have exactly 18 days and 44 minutes to return our truck, no questions asked. P.S., this is real and we are deadly serious.”
Also on August 17, another shipment from the same distribution center operated by Anheuser-Busch was picked up for delivery but never arrived at its destination in Tucson, Arizona, the Montclair police said. That shipment was valued at about $45,000.
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“Investigators identified similarities between the two incidents and are investigating whether they were committed as part of the same fraudulent cargo-theft operation,” the police said.
In a reply to Pabst’s social media post, the Montclair Police Department said: “We are working this case, but no trucks were stolen. Just the cargo.”
The significance, if any, of that deadline was not immediately known. The Instagram post, “Help us find our missing truck full of beers,” offers a reward to anyone providing information leading to the return of the stolen beer. It featured a Pabst Blue Ribbon truck with the word “Stolen” stenciled in red atop the photo. A footnote at the bottom reads, “Photo not of actual truck…because we can’t find that one.”
Pabst wrote that it would offer a reward to anyone who provides information leading to the return of the product.
