Jerome Brown has seen it all. But this. This is new.
"Twenty years I've been here. Never happened,” he said.
Police say a man broke into a side door of Jerome Brown's BBQ and Wings in Jacksonville, Florida, last week and had a field day inside. You name it, he took it.
“Ribs, chicken, oil, baked beans, pork and beans, sausage and shrimp,” Brown continued.
And that's not all. The bandit also reportedly stole BBQ sauce, computers and a register. That plus the food totals out to about $4,000.
Longtime customers can't believe it.
“The people worked hard to get where they're at. I don't understand why anyone would do something like that,” Kaylah Yarberry said.
Brown said everything was in place – surveillance cameras, alarm, locked doors. That still didn't stop this determined crook. Brown believes the thief even brought a truck to haul away the goods and most likely will sell them on the street.
The goal now is to build back supply and keep serving Northwest Jacksonville. In the meantime, Brown has a message for law enforcement: “Prosecute them to the fullest."
ActionNewsJax was told that Brown's alarm company, ADT, sent Brown a text when the alarm went off but did not call police. Brown plans on looking into that.
About the Author