Woodbury man charged in food truck theft totaling over $20,000

Emily Baude KSTP

(Egg Roll Queen)

A Woodbury man has been charged with theft after allegedly stealing over $20,000 in cash and goods from a food truck.

Frank Gums Jr., 18, was charged with one count of theft over $5,000 on Monday for stealing from the Eggroll Queen food truck in South St. Paul.

In a post on Facebook, the owner of a popular local food truck called the Eggroll Queen said money from her food truck was stolen on Sept. 13.

Today – it’s a very sad day… I feel numb & still in misbelief.
They unlocked the driver side door, grabbed the bag and ran off: $$$$K+ cash, check books, cards, important documents, etc. We don’t normally carry that kind of cash, but it has been busy at the kitchen and short helpers at the kitchen due to the kids are back in school & my sister in law moved to her new house. No time to go to the bank to deposit almost two weeks worth of sales.
I think they have been watching our truck for some time.
I am so sad & feeling numbness all over. My family has been working 5am – 11pm/midnight everyday, 7 days a week. Please send @ us a prayer and word of comfort to ease the pain.
Eggroll Queen via Facebook

On Sept. 13, officers from the South St. Paul Police Department were called to a food truck on a report of a theft, according to a criminal complaint.

The complaint states that Gums allegedly took a backpack with the past month’s earnings totaling between $20,000 and $30,000 in cash, jewelry, electronic devices, and checkbooks.

Law enforcement said they obtained surveillance video from businesses near the food truck at the time of the theft, which showed a red SUV being driven by a man with a woman in the passenger seat.

Officers used the license plate of the vehicle to contact the owner of the red SUV, who told authorities that a man named “Frank Johnson” had taken her vehicle and she had been frequently contacting him to get it back, the complaint states.

The witness added that during a FaceTime call on Sept. 15, “Frank” had shown her two green bank bags containing a “large amount” of cash and checks belonging to the food truck. “Frank” told the witness that he had bought an eggroll, watched the truck for two hours, and then stole from the food truck.

The red SUV was found on Sept. 20 at a motel in Bloomington occupied by the witness and another woman who said they were there to visit Gums. The room was empty when officers searched it, the complaint states.

On Sept. 22, officers tracked Gums’ phone to a motel in St. Paul, where they arrested him and a woman. A detective who spoke with the woman told authorities that she was with Gums in South St. Paul when they saw the food truck and bought food. The woman said she didn’t know where the stolen money went and that she told Gums not to do it.

Gums denied stealing from the food truck.

Gums was in court on Monday for a first appearance. He is due back in court on Oct. 19 at 9 a.m. for an omnibus hearing.