AUSTIN, Texas — Two men have been accused of breaking into five food trucks in Austin and one of the break-ins was caught on video.
Police responded to an Austin H-E-B at 6:40 a.m. Wednesday after a caller advised them that a register was found in their parking lot full of money, according to an arrest affidavit.
Police said when they arrived at the H-E-B, they found several slips in the register that belonged to a Hawaiian food truck located at 1606 E. 6th Street in Austin.
"What kind of heart do these people have to do something to those who are just trying to barely make it," said Yasuo Yamada, who works at one of the nearly half a dozen food trucks where thieves broke into Wednesday morning.
According to police, the Hawaiian food truck is located in a gated lot that houses several food trucks. Upon further investigation, police reportedly found that a total of five food trucks had been burglarized.
Police said several of the food truck owners reported stolen property including cash registers, iPads and tablets.
"One of the food truck owners tracked their iPad," Yamada said. "And that's how the cops caught up to both Vizcarra and Melendez."
One of the owners gave police surveillance video of the two suspects breaking into one of the food trucks, police said.
The video shows the suspects -- identified as Marlo Melendez, 17, and Luis Vizcarra, 26 -- looking around and stealing items from inside the food truck.
Police were able to locate Vizcarra and found and Melendez in a stolen vehicle with the stolen property. According to police, Vizcarra has two prior convictions for theft.
Melendez has been charged with four counts of burglary of a building and one count of burglary of a vehicle. Vizcarra has been charged with four counts of burglary of a building, one count of theft and one count of unauthorized use of a vehicle.
"It's terrible because I like to feel safe for myself and my business," said Francesca Cavallari, owner of Dolce Bacio Italian Gelato.
Cavallari says it's a discussion starter in food truck safety.
"We're all here in the same situation so now we can work together to improve our safety and food trailer park," Cavallari said.
All in hopes that food truck break-ins do not happen again.
"It's not like we have big food chains," Yamada said. "We're all individual owners and we don't have big enough dollars for them to get away with anything."
Both men were transported to the Travis County Jail and the two suspects are in police custody as of Thursday afternoon.