SCIOTA, Pa. — As the owner of Old Mill Pub near Sciota, Bryan Schmidt is always looking for new ways to build his business. When the idea of adding a food truck came up, he jumped at the opportunity.
"We had a great first season, and we were already almost fully booked for this season. Like, we did that good last year that we had that many people scheduling us already," said Schmidt.
But those events will have to be canceled. The food truck was stolen from the parking lot of the pub in Hamilton Township early Monday morning.
Schmidt says when he came in to open at noon on the same day, he thought one of his employees had taken the truck, but later learned that wasn't the case.
"There are no words. It's not just a truck. There are four or five staff members that this is their livelihood from March to October. You didn't just take somebody's truck. You took four people's jobs," said Schmidt.
The parking lot is under 24-hour surveillance, but Schmidt's cameras didn't catch the thieves in action. But a business right across the street did and it allowed them to find out exactly what direction the truck went in and exactly what time it left this parking lot.
"It says Old Mill Pub all over it. It's a very colorful mountain scene and sky scene," said Schmidt." It sticks out. You can't miss it. If they were driving around in it, they're going to get found."
Schmidt says the truck was stolen around 5:30 a.m. Monday and was last seen heading east on Interstate 80 toward New Jersey.
State police are investigating, but he is hoping the community can also help.
"If you see something, say something. That's the only way we're going to find this thing," said Schmidt.
Schmidt says this isn't the end of the Old Mill Pub Food Truck. Once insurance money comes through, he plans to purchase another one.