Hunt for the cheese robbers: Fed-up wine bar owner blighted by thefts tracks down crooks…using an AirTag concealed in stolen Brie

Restaurant owner David Straker was so confused when freshly delivered dairy products were stolen from outside his business that he turned detective and tried to solve the crime himself.

Security cameras showed hooded thieves stealing the goods from a storage box minutes after they were delivered, so he came up with the ingenious idea of ​​using an AirTag to track the loot.

Mr Straker, 56, owner of William and Victoria wine bar and restaurant in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, and his wife Johanna, 53, decided to use a Brie wheel as bait to lure the thieves into his trap.

He bought the cheese for around £10, carefully unwrapped it and slid the AirTag – which is about the size of a coin – into the soft cheese before closing the package again.

The Brie was left overnight in the storage box at the back of his restaurant and the delivery person was told not to touch it when he delivered his usual early morning order of milk, cream and cheese.

Especially shortly after delivery, a hooded thief came in on Friday, December 6 at 7:25 a.m. and took the Brie wheel from the unlocked box.

Mr Straker was able to track the Brie’s location on his phone because the Apple tracking device inside it emits a Bluetooth signal that is picked up by nearby phones, showing its location on a map.

For more than three weeks, Mr Straker has been keeping an eye on his stolen Brie as it has been taken to various locations around Yorkshire.

The cheese thief in action: Security cameras show hooded thieves stealing the goods from a storage box minutes after dropping them off

At one point, when the Brie seemed to have settled into a property in Harrogate, he plucked up the courage to confront whoever lived there, but when he arrived at the house he thought better of the idea after.

‘There were mattresses outside and a strong smell of some substance coming from the house. “I thought, ‘No, this is not a good idea’ and decided to leave it,” he said.

Since tracking began, the Brie has been taken to various addresses around Harrogate and neighboring Knaresborough, as well as to Otley and Menston in West Yorkshire.

He said, “I think it was driven around in a van,” he said. ‘It moved so much that I decided to wait until it stopped before reporting it to the police. It’s also our busiest time of year and I just haven’t had time to go to the police and make a statement. I’m going to do that this week and present my evidence.’

Straker is not confident that the police will identify the perpetrator. “I hate to say it, but I don’t have high expectations for the police,” he said.

He decided to use the tracker to track the cheese after hearing on the radio that a suspicious number of goods were being offered to restaurants in the city.

“On a whim I thought I could see if it showed up at another restaurant and where it might be,” he said.

With the AirTag sitting idle since Christmas Eve, it seems likely that the Brie, or at least the cheap AirTag, was dumped in a commercial bin in Knaresborough, five miles from his restaurant.

David Straker poses with his cheese. He has issued the following warning: ‘The next time you see a suspicious cyclist with a backpack full of dairy, think of us and our lost Brie. And remember: crime may pay, but cheese always costs’

Beware the Cheese Thief: Freshly delivered dairy products were stolen from outside Straker’s business, so he turned detective to try to solve the crime himself

The identity of the thief remains unknown. However, Mr Straker says his main concern is raising public awareness of the nasty and costly petty thefts

The identity of the thief remains unknown.

However, Mr Straker said his main concern was raising public awareness of the nasty and costly petty theft.

“We put out a light-hearted post on our social media and you could say it’s just a piece of cheese, but it’s actually more than a piece of cheese, it’s things we buy to sell. The cost of our food is going up, the cost of our utilities is going up and it is becoming increasingly difficult to run a business. So little things like that certainly contribute to shrinking our margins.’

Mr Straker said hundreds of pounds worth of goods have been stolen in recent months, but he now has a properly locked and secured container to store deliveries, which has so far prevented further thefts.

“I have zero tolerance for theft,” he said.

He added a message to his customers on his website: ‘The next time you see a suspicious cyclist with a backpack full of dairy, think of us and our lost Brie. And remember: crime may pay, but cheese always costs.”