Daniel Bethencourt

Detroit Free Press

Warren Police are investigating how at least 33 cases of Whoppers burgers disappeared from the back of a delivery truck on Friday morning, according to the city’s mayor, Jim Fouts.

“It’s a whopper of a theft,” Fouts said dryly. He added of the thieves: “They probably consumed the evidence.”

The incident began on Thursday night, when a semi-truck driver tried to deliver several cases of the famous burgers to a Reinhart food distribution center located on Ryan Road and East 10 Mile.

For reasons that aren’t clear, the driver had to wait several hours to make his delivery. He fell asleep in the truck and awoke at 2 a.m. — only to notice that his truck’s shipping seal was broken and a few boxes of Whoppers were missing.

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The driver secured the truck with a padlock and went back to sleep. By the time he awoke at 8:30 a.m., at least one thief had struck again — this time taking 33 cases.

“While he was sleeping, they were stealing Whoppers,” Fouts said.

Fouts said it wasn’t clear how many burgers were in each case. The distribution center refused to accept the burgers that were left over once they learned of the theft.

Now police are trying to catch the “hamburglars.” Yet officers have very little to go on.

Anyone with details is asked to call the Warren Police at 586-574-4800.

Contact Daniel Bethencourt: 313-223-4531 or dbethencourt@freepress.com. Follow on Twitter @_dbethencourt.