Nearly 40,000 pounds of Pabst Blue Ribbon and other beer products disappeared from an Anheuser-Busch distribution center in Montclair in what authorities are investigating as part of a potentially organized cargo-theft operation.
The Aug. 17 caper involved roughly 1,600 cases and nearly 34,000 cans of beer — enough to make even the most ambitious backyard barbecue seem woefully underprepared.
And apparently, the thieves didn’t just pull up, smash a window and yell, “Grab the PBR.”
According to Montclair police, the beer was obtained after a purported subcontracting company submitted fraudulent documentation to arrange a pickup at the distribution center.
The suspicious pickup occurred around 11 a.m.
Even more interesting: it wasn’t the only load of booze to disappear that morning.
About an hour earlier, another shipment valued at approximately $45,000 was picked up from the same distribution center for delivery to Tucson, Arizona.
It never arrived.
Then came the second pickup, involving approximately $25,000 worth of Anheuser-Busch and Pabst Blue Ribbon products.
Investigators said there are similarities between the two incidents and are examining whether they were carried out as part of the same fraudulent cargo-theft operation.
Information supplied about the trucking company, driver and vehicles contained discrepancies, according to police.
Early reports — and even some of Pabst’s own social media posts — described the incident as a stolen truck loaded with beer. Montclair police later clarified that no truck was stolen.
Just the beer.
Which, admittedly, is still quite a lot of beer.
The missing haul included hundreds of cases of Pabst Blue Ribbon along with nearly 200 cases of Old Milwaukee non-alcoholic beer.
Pabst has responded to the disappearance in a manner befitting a company whose flagship product has spent decades cultivating a certain blue-collar sense of humor.
The company launched a social media campaign seeking the return of its missing brew and offered a reward for information leading to its recovery.
Pabst also gave whoever took the beer exactly 18 days and 44 minutes to return it — an apparent nod to 1844, the year associated with the company’s founding.
As the search continued, Pabst warned that the beer was getting warmer while the trail was getting colder.
The company has also had to reassure social media users that the whole thing isn’t an elaborate advertising campaign.
It’s real.
Montclair police are continuing to investigate both missing shipments and whether the pickups were connected.
No arrests have been announced.
Anyone with information regarding the incidents, vehicles, drivers, delivery companies or missing cargo is asked to contact the Montclair Police Department at 909-621-4771.