Burglars caught on camera breaking into East Austin food trucks

AUSTIN, Texas - The owner of food trucks in East Austin is trying to recover after being hit by burglars. Two people are caught on camera breaking into the food park and stealing many items.

Video showed two people on Monday, August 12, at around 3 a.m., breaking into the Vegan Nom Food Park on Cesar Chavez Street.

"They were pretty motivated robbers," The Vegan Nom food park owner Chris Rios said.

They ignored the alarm system and cameras overhead.

"They've actually deterred a lot of the robberies that could have happened. It's just this one occurrence," Rios said.

The two people pried open the doors to three food trucks, The Vegan Nom, Nom Burgers, and Ghoul Coffee Company, and took what they could find.

"I feel disappointed that a person, a human, would have to go to that level to survive where they have to go and break into a small business to eat or drink or do what they have to do to survive," Rios said.

Rios said they stole electronics and about $700 and damaged windows and doors.

"Right now, we just need as much support as we can to where we can continue to move forward and get through this time," Rios said.

Rios said recently times have been tough.

"Once it starts hitting 105 or 100 degrees, it's a lot harder for folks to come and visit the food park, so when that's happening and morale is kind of a little bit low, then it's like, oh my gosh, I can't believe this, we just got hit hard, and just like man, some of us, we do suffer loss and damage, and it costs us money," Rios said.

This isn’t the first time they’ve been hit by burglars. Rios said since 2017, they’ve been broken into at least 20 times. He said in the past, Austin police responded quickly and even caught multiple people. Rios said this time is different.

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"This is the first time that I've actually got a service number and have not gotten the case number yet. Not sure what's going on with APD. I'm not complaining against it, but it's just one of those things that is alarming as a small business," Rios said.

Rios said he has received support from the community after posting what happened on social media.

"There's still hundreds of people out there that care for every two, so I think that that says a lot that speaks volumes about what our community is about," Rios said.

Rios said small businesses are what make Austin, Austin, so if you have a favorite, continue supporting them.