Thieves Swipe Van— With $32K in Pies Inside

UPDATE Dec 4, 2024 1:51 AM CST

A Michelin-starred chef in England is pleading with thieves to "do something nice" this holiday season and donate 2,500 of his pies, stolen along with a refrigerated van. The van stuffed with 2,500 steak and ale, turkey and cranberry, and butternut squash pies had been plugged in overnight Sunday at a business park in Melmerby, North Yorkshire, ahead of a planned delivery to chef Tommy Banks' pop-up pie shop at York Christmas Market, per the Guardian. But when staff went to pick it up on Monday morning, the van had disappeared. Banks, an award-winning restaurateur and judge on the BBC's Great British Menu, notes that while the van is covered by insurance, the nearly $32,000 in pies are likely to be dumped, per the BBC.

Dec 3, 2024 6:39 AM CST

"Bit of a pain, really," the chef says in a video shared online, per the Guardian. "These guys probably stole the van, right, 'cause that's what they do ... but they probably didn't bargain for the nearly ton of pies that's in the back of there. And it's kind of sad because that's a lot of meat and a lot of flour and eggs and a lot of work." Suspecting the thieves might investigate the name on the pie boxes, Banks speaks directly to them, urging them to drop the pies "somewhere, like at a community center" so that "someone who needs them could eat them." "I know you're a criminal but maybe just do something nice 'cause it's Christmas and maybe we could feed a few thousand people with these pies that you've stolen," Banks says. "Do the right thing."