{"id":448543,"date":"2026-08-31T03:20:19","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T03:20:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/448543\/"},"modified":"2026-08-31T03:20:19","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T03:20:19","slug":"40000-pounds-of-pabst-blue-ribbon-stolen-in-massive-california-beer-heist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/448543\/","title":{"rendered":"40,000 pounds of Pabst Blue Ribbon stolen in massive California beer heist"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Police are investigating what appears to be a sophisticated cargo theft operation after nearly $70,000 worth of products, including tens of thousands of cans of beer, disappeared from a Southern California distribution center in two separate pickups about an hour apart.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The thefts occurred Aug. 17 at the Anheuser-Busch distribution center at 4545 Brooks St. in Montclair, according to the <a data-ylk=\"slk:Montclair Police Department;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/montclairpdca\/posts\/pfbid02atBtQ9a9p9GjgKL2cwJfRuAHNwayHeijqE1mkv5QrodUdroViZ9xG6b4gh2qdz2dl\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Montclair Police Department<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Investigators said the first incident happened around 10 a.m., when a shipment valued at approximately $45,000 was picked up for delivery to Tucson, Arizona.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">It never arrived.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">About an hour later, a second shipment containing approximately $25,000 worth of Anheuser-Busch and Pabst Blue Ribbon products was picked up from the same facility, police said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">In that case, a purported subcontracting company submitted fraudulent documentation to arrange the pickup, according to investigators.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Police now believe the two incidents may be connected.<\/p>\n<p><a data-ylk=\"ct:story;elm:img;itc:0;\" class=\"stretched-box\" href=\"https:\/\/ktla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/08\/Pabst-Blue-Ribbon-heist-1.jpg\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\"><img alt=\"40K pounds of PRB stolen in massive SoCal beer heist\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/ktla_articles_362\/7ae6ce8b971537515114aad0d0775bc5.jpg\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>(Instagram: @pabstblueribbon)<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;Investigators identified similarities between the two incidents and are investigating whether they were committed as part of the same fraudulent cargo theft operation,&#8221; the department said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Information provided about the trucking company, driver and vehicles involved in the pickups contained discrepancies that detectives are investigating, police added.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The theft has attracted national attention in part because of the sheer volume of beer that vanished.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The <a data-ylk=\"slk:Los Angeles Times reported;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/california\/newsletter\/2026-08-30\/southern-californias-great-beer-heist-was-almost-completely-ignored\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Los Angeles Times reported<\/a> that an original police report detailed 1,602 cases containing 33,984 cans of beer, including 860 cases of 15-packs of 25-ounce Pabst Blue Ribbon cans and 546 cases of 30-packs of 12-ounce PBR cans.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Another 196 cases contained 24-packs of 12-ounce nonalcoholic Old Milwaukee.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Altogether, the shipment weighed roughly 40,000 pounds, including pallets and other packaging materials, the outlet reported.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Pabst has since turned to social media in hopes of generating leads, using the brand&#8217;s typically playful tone to draw attention to the theft.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;To the thief: we don&#8217;t fault you for wanting to brag to your friends how much PBR you have, we just wish you obtained it the honorable way.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;Pabst is officially starting the clock now, you have exactly 18 days and 44 minutes to return our truckload of beer, no questions asked.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;P.S. this is real and we are deadly serious,&#8221; the <a data-ylk=\"slk:company wrote in an Aug. 21 Instagram post;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DcUyt9uG8Kd\/?hl=en&amp;img_index=1\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">company wrote in an Aug. 21 Instagram post<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The company has offered a reward for information that helps solve the mystery and recover the missing beer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;Our tone on social media is fun, and it&#8217;s what our customers expect,&#8221; Paul Meyers, Pabst&#8217;s senior director of integration marketing, told the Los Angeles Times. &#8220;It&#8217;s sort of at the heart of what you&#8217;re seeing and our efforts to bring awareness to this situation.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The unusual campaign apparently created some confusion about whether the theft itself was genuine, prompting Pabst to later emphasize that the story was real.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Despite some of the company&#8217;s social media posts referring to a missing truck or &#8220;truckload&#8221; of beer, police have clarified that no truck was stolen.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;We are working this case, but no trucks were stolen,&#8221; Montclair police said in a <a data-ylk=\"slk:statement cited by People;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/people.com\/thousands-of-lbs-of-pabst-blue-ribbon-beer-stolen-company-offers-reward-12073076\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">statement cited by People<\/a>. &#8220;Just the cargo.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"40K pounds of PRB stolen in massive SoCal beer heist\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/ktla_articles_362\/1cfed41b22fb2f4ad597853f395bcee7.jpg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>(Instagram: @pabstblueribbon)<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"40K pounds of PRB stolen in massive SoCal beer heist\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/ktla_articles_362\/eb98595d0f5893651dc3326cc5c27b9d.jpg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>(Instagram: @pabstblueribbon)<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Still, an Aug. 24 Instagram post by the company appeared to muddy the waters.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;Beer is getting warmer, trail is getting colder. Clock&#8217;s still ticking.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;If you think you saw our truckload of beer, snap a photo and tag us \u2026 or DM us with any info on its whereabouts,&#8221; <a data-ylk=\"slk:the company wrote;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DccTaWnGXH0\/?hl=en&amp;img_index=1\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">the company wrote<\/a>, though the accompanying image featured the words &#8220;MISSING TRUCK&#8221; in large red letters.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;It might look like this one \u2026 or might not. It&#8217;s the one with 40,000 lbs. of PBR in it.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Pabst, meanwhile, appears to be hoping its lighthearted approach will help draw attention to the investigation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><a data-ylk=\"slk:More than 20 unaccounted for after Grand Canyon flash flood;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/ktla.com\/news\/nationworld\/phantom-ranch-flood-unaccounted-hikers\/?ipid=promo-link-block1\" class=\"promo-link__link\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">\u00a0More than 20 unaccounted for after Grand Canyon flash flood\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;We&#8217;ve had a great response so far,&#8221; Meyers told the Los Angeles Times, &#8220;but, yes, we do want the beer back and eventually doing what it&#8217;s meant to be doing, being consumed.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Police have not identified any suspects or announced any arrests in connection with the thefts.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The combined reported value of the missing cargo is approximately $70,000, according to the Montclair Police Department.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The investigation remains active.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Anyone with information about the incidents, vehicles, driver, delivery company or missing cargo is urged to contact the Montclair Police Department at 909-621-4771.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<a data-ylk=\"slk:For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/ktla.com\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Police are investigating what appears to be a sophisticated cargo theft operation after nearly $70,000 worth of products,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":448544,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[15294,50317,177575,177578,177574,177576,177577,7,9,8,7644,70087,13744,177573,177572,76861],"class_list":["post-448543","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-15294","tag-anheuser-busch","tag-approximately-25","tag-approximately-45","tag-approximately-70","tag-aug-17","tag-aug-24","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-instagram","tag-meyers","tag-montclair","tag-pabst","tag-pabst-blue-ribbon","tag-pbr"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/448543","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=448543"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/448543\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/448544"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=448543"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=448543"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=448543"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}