In a high-stakes crime that sounds more like a fraternity prank than a major heist, thieves made off with more than 34,000 cans of beer from a Southern California warehouse. Police in Montclair revealed that two separate theft operations unfolded within an hour of each other at a regional distribution facility, resulting in a loss of roughly $70,000 worth of Pabst Blue Ribbon and non-alcoholic Old Milwaukee beer.
The trouble began when an initial shipment valued at $45,000 bound for Tucson, Arizona, was loaded onto a truck but mysteriously never arrived at its destination. Just an hour later, a second crew presenting fraudulent paperwork from a fake subcontracting company walked off with another $25,000 worth of canned brews. Investigators are now working to determine if the back-to-back grand thefts were executed by the same sneaky ring of beverage thieves.
Rather than simply despairing over the stolen cargo, Pabst Blue Ribbon decided to lean into the absurdity of the situation. The company launched a cheeky social media campaign, starting an online countdown clock for the safe return of their 40,000 pounds of missing beer while poking fun at the culprits for going through such extreme lengths to stock up on PBR.