Colorado cheese thief steals $5,000 worth of provolone from pizza shop

PUEBLO, Colo., April 7 (UPI) -- A serial cheese thief returned to a Colorado pizza shop to steal thousands of dollars worth of provolone cheese.

Kevin Romero, a manager at the Do Drop Inn pizza parlor in Pueblo, told KOAA that a man had begun stealing cheese from the restaurant six weeks ago, getting away with a total of 2,000 pounds of cheese as well as two dollies and a ladder valued at between $5,000-$7,000.

"The first time they came in they stole about probably five or six boxes," he said. "The second time was eight to ten boxes, and now the 19 boxes. I don't get it. There must be some black market for cheese that I don't know about."

Owner Hoss Kashani told KRDO he installed new locks and security cameras after becoming aware of the theft when he ran out of cheese in the middle of the week.

The newly installed cameras were able to briefly capture footage of the thief, before he used some kind of pole to move the camera away as he loaded the cheese onto a truck.

Kashani said he believes the thief is taking the cheese with the intention of reselling it to other restaurants or distributors.

"For one person, I don't think one person can eat that many sub sandwiches. Or make that much pizza. In my opinion, this person is a buyer," he said. "I don't know who is that person but it is not right."

Police are investigating the incident, but Kashani said the theft has already affected his business financially.

"The impact is high," he said. "So we have to sell tons, tons of pizza to cover our loss."