Food trailer stolen from Bellevue restaurant recovered

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - The “It’z a Philly Thing” food trailer has been found after it was stolen last week.

The popular Philly cheesesteak restaurant was broken into, and its trailer stolen.

The trailer is now at a local report shop after owners said it was being stripped for parts and more when police found it.

“I felt devastated. I just really felt devastated,” owner Zyhiar Baker-Elam said.

Baker-Elam said he’s still in shock days after he got a call saying someone broke into his restaurant.

“At around 3:30 on Oct. 22, and a few minutes after they broke in, they stole the food trailer, but they were also rambling through some things inside,” Baker-Elam said.

He said the thief stole money from the register, several electronics, cut wires to the surveillance cameras and drove off with their trailer.

“We work so hard to get this thing up and running and get it upgraded, and now we see somebody come and do this to us,” Baker-Elam said.

The trailer Baker-Elam said his restaurant started is gone.

“After I graduated college, I went home and I rebuilt that trailer with my dad and my stepdad,” he said. “My stepdad and I drove it all the way down here from Philadelphia, so we definitely have a lot of attachment to it.”

After days of searching for the trailer and getting tips from loyal customers, police found the trailer about 10 miles away from the restaurant.

“Our rims were powder coated. They spray-painted those. They stole the generator, so it looked like it was going to be pretty expensive to get it fixed,” Baker-Elam said.

Baker-Elam is thanking the Bellevue community for their help while working to raise money for repairs.

“We feel a little bit better, but we still have a long road to recovery,” he said.

While they work to bounce back, employees said they’re also looking for other ways to better protect their trailer.

Copyright 2022 WSMV. All rights reserved.