Beef stolen from sleeping driver

A driver lost about $10,000 worth of beef when thieves entered his parked tractor-trailer in Philadelphia early Thursday.

Police said the break-in occurred around 4 a.m. The suspects cut through a padlock on the truck while the driver slept inside the cab. The driver told investigators that the truck began shaking during the incident. He looked out the window and saw several people moving around the vehicle. He tried to start the engine and drive away but found his door open. He realized he could not stop them at that point.

The thieves took five pallets of beef. The driver used a cellphone to record the vehicles that fled the scene. He described one car as a dark gray Nissan sedan and the other two as SUVs.

This theft follows a similar incident in Southwest Philadelphia on Tuesday. In that case, suspects stole 3,000 pounds of crab legs from a semi-truck. Earlier this month, thieves also took more than $40,000 worth of beef from a truck in Northeast Philadelphia. That job happened after a late September theft in South Philadelphia.

Police are asking trucking companies to use hardened steel locks. They also recommend parking in well-lit, public areas. The investigation into the Thursday beef theft is ongoing.