VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - A Virginia Beach catering company walked in to an unpleasant surprise Sunday morning.
"It took us about 45 minutes to realize everything that was missing,"said Jodi Newland, owner of Sweetwater Cuisine.
Newland says thieves targeted their business off Thalia Road twice Sunday morning.
"They took so much it was hard to do in one load," she said. "I was totally violated."
The catering company has been in business for 17 years. During the pandemic, they started serving lunch, brunch and dinner, often on the back patio - a patio that looks totally different today.
"They got coolers, hot boxes, black kitchen mats, three of our outdoor patio tables and even took matching umbrellas," said Newland. "It was intentional."
Surveillance video shows a white Ford pickup coming by the catering company just after midnight to scope out the place as well as a neighboring pizza joint. The truck returned around 6:45 a.m. Sunday making off with the items.
"It is about $2,000 worth of stuff," she said."To have someone help themselves to things you have worked so hard for and spent money on, it's infuriating."
In an already tough year financially, Newland says this loss is devastating.
"They would have been better off coming to me and asking for help and I would have done it, but now they have ruffled my feathers," said Newland.
The catering company has filed a police report and is hoping the thieves return the items.
