Food Truck Stolen: Beltway Bistro Missing Weeks Before Opening

SILVER SPRING, MD — One of James Turner's new employees had never seen the food truck they would be working on, so Turner decided to show it to them on Memorial Day. The pair arrived at the spot where the truck is usually parked on Brookville Road in Silver Spring. It wasn't there.

"I thought maybe it might have been towed, but after making a series of phone calls and then checking the police to see if it was impounded, it wasn't coming up," Turner told Patch. "So I immediately filed a report that it was stolen."

The truck hadn't even opened for business yet — Turner said he finally finished his licensing for the truck and was close to his grand opening.

"Within two weeks I was going to be out on the road," said Turner.

He said the licensing process had been tough and lengthy because of the pandemic. With government buildings closed, he did a lot of it over the phone.

Turner estimates that this setback will cost him three or four months, since he isn't sure if he'll have to apply for a new license when he gets a new truck. He hopes insurance can help with the cost of the truck — valued at $50,000 — and the new equipment that was inside.

Turner has been working in the restaurant business for over 30 years. For the last 10, he's been a chef at Blue 44 in Washington, D.C. He'd been cutting back his hours to focus on the truck, but said his boss there was one of the first people he called when he realized his truck was gone. Turner's boss told him he could come back to work more hours if he wanted to, and said they would do whatever they had to do to get through it.

Turner said he's normally an optimistic person, but this setback has been difficult.

"For once I just wanted to do something for myself," he said. "This is something that I started on my own and wanted to follow through with it, to do something for me, to make my own schedule and to have something to call my own."

Turner planned on starting simple with the menu — sandwiches, salads, a soup of the day and a. few appetizers. Then he could grow the menu more and consider catering or private parties.

"My mentality still is offering restaurant quality food a food truck setting," said Turner. "That's something I want to portray and I want people to realize that it is possible."

He's in the process of working with insurance to see what can be done and is looking to his next steps to get Beltway Bistro open.

"It will happen," he said. "It's going to take me a little bit longer, but I'll get it done"

Anyone with information is asked to call the Montgomery County Police Department 240-773-6710, or contact Crime Solvers at 1-866-411-TIPS (8177) or online or via the app. Police say all callers will remain anonymous.