Two vans that belong to the Arnold Food Pantry were broken into late on March 7 or early on March 8, and about $120 worth of soda was stolen from one of them, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office reports.
The damage to the vans was estimated at $500, the report said.
Kathy Flanigan, food pantry director, said the thief or thieves broke windows to get into the vans, but items were stolen from just one of them.
She said the culprits got away with 80 2-liter bottles of soda that otherwise would have been distributed to people in need.
Usually, the pantry doesn’t leave items in the vehicles over night, Flanigan said.
“Of course, the night we leave something in there, this happens,” she said.
Flanigan said this wasn’t the first time the pantry had been the victim of a crime.
On March 7, Flanigan said she discovered that gas had been drained out of one of the pantry’s four vehicles, so she bought locking gas caps for all them.
Then, that same night the vans were broken into.
“I think it’s a shame people would target a charity that helps the needy,” Flanigan said.
She said March 16 that the pantry received donations to cover the cost of the van repairs and they had been completed.
No arrests had been made as of March 16, said Capt. Ron Arnhart of the Sheriff’s Office.
Anyone with information about the theft is asked to call the Sheriff’s Office tip line at 636-797-5515.
-- Kim Robertson
