PEMBROKE PARK, FLA. (WSVN) - Two mobile teaching kitchens and related equipment valued at about $30,000 have been recovered after being stolen from Feeding South Florida’s warehouse , authorities said.
7News cameras captured one of the mobile kitchens being brought out of a truck outside Feeding South Florida’s warehouse in Pembroke Park, Wednesday afternoon.
“You’re always hopeful, but you don’t always want to bank on that hope,” said Feeding South Florida President and CEO Paco Velez.
But this time, the nonprofit could. Velez and others with Feeding South Florida watched their once-missing mobile kitchens, priced at about $15,000 apiece, brought back to their headquarters, 10 days after they were stolen.
“I don’t know where they went, who took them, However, we’re just happy to have them back,” said Velez.
Surveillance video shows two unidentified men after, investigators said, they broke into two trailers. The subjects are seen backing a pickup truck into a parking area, opening a tractor-trailer and removing the portable kitchen units on April 27.
One man was seen loading items into the truck bed while the other returned to the trailer to retrieve more equipment.
The mobile kitchens are used in Feeding South Florida’s community outreach program. They’re mostly used in senior citizen events, to teach healthy food preparation and help combat senior isolation.
“There’s a lot of social interaction that was really being missed by not having these kitchens with us,” said Velez.
Pembroke Park Police Chief Daniel DeCoursey spoke with 7News on Wednesday after the equipment was returned.
“They’re there to help people, and now you’re taking away from the people that they helped, and it’s pitiful that this is what it’s come to,” said
As it turns out, Pembroke Park Police received a tip from the Opa-locka Police Department.
“And subsequently, we were able to find the equipment. It was located in a white van,” said DeCoursey. “The van was seized, and we executed a search warrant on the van today.”
Pictures showed what investigators found inside the van: all the equipment packed into the van, as well as drawers of other kitchen items in the front seat.
In a time when the charity’s mission to fight hunger is facing economic uncertainty and big government grant cuts, the return of these kitchens is a small restoration of hope.
Velez said the kitchens appear to be intact and in good shape.
“It looks like they were ready to be sold, so they weren’t used, they weren’t trashed. They are in one piece, and we’re just excited to get them out and use them with our senior community,” he said.
As of Wednesday night, no arrests have been reported.
If you have any information on this theft or the subjects’ whereabouts, call Broward County Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS. Remember, you can always remain anonymous, and you may be eligible for a reward of up to $5,000.
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