All Points Bulletin

Note: Some who are incarcerated have not been judged guilty and are awaiting court dates.

Posted on 18 November 2009 by brad

Whether it’s thousands of pounds of garbanzo beans or grocery store shoplifting, local thieves have been on the hunt for foodstuffs of late.

Shoplifting is an almost daily occurrence in the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley. But recent reports of ground beef stolen during one burglary on the 500 block of 14th Street in Clarkston and $500-$1,000 in meat ripped from a backyard freezer on the 3400 block of 10th Street in Lewiston have been among a spate of food stolen from the valley’s coolers.

Another report of about $125 in meat from a backyard freezer on the 500 block of Linden Drive, including two turkeys and two pot roasts, came into the Lewiston Police Department today.

Police often talk about “crimes of opportunity” during the holiday season when packages are swiped from front porches, or car windows are broken in search of Christmas presents. This recent rash of thefts, however, seems to be of a different mold.

Lewiston police do not know if the food thefts are related to the current economic climate.

Thefts from backyard and patio coolers happen off and on, but Lewiston Police Capt. Tom Greene said suspects are primarily teens seeking out a few extra beers. The practice, informally called “refrigerating” by high school students, has not historically targeted food.

The more recent thefts are more likely someone who lives in the neighborhood and is in need of the food, Greene said.

Such burglaries don’t appear to be related to the theft of more than 50,000 pounds of garbanzo beans from Henrichs Trading in North Lewiston. Police reports pegged that theft at approximately $30,000.