In any large metropolitan area, many vehicles are taken and some take a long time to find. But those vanished vehicles don’t sell popcorn and aren’t usually painted orange.
A food truck that sells gourmet popcorn was not in its usual place in Alexandria when the owner went to look for it Friday morning as he usually does. Rich Arslan, the owner of the Popped! Republic truck, called the police.
The theft of an orange popcorn truck is uncommon, intriguing, a quirky event with purchase on the imagination. The incident got far more attention than might the disappearance of some more staid conveyand. Reports about it spread widely and rapily in the news and on social media.
Finally, about 7:30 p.m., came a climactic Twitter message that conveyed the sense of bemused amazement occasioned by the disappearance. .
“THIS is crazy,” read the Tweet, “ but this truck is across the street.” It was said to be across from the twitter user’s place of employment in Forestville.
The Prince George’s County police followed up.
The vehicle, slightly damaged, was soon recovered.
The Alexandria police announced this on its Twitter site, noting that the recovery had rested on two institutions and one color.
“The retweets & the news coverage did it, “read the message posted by the Alexandria police ‘plus the ORANGE!”
It was not immediately known Friday night who had brought the truck to the Forestville area of Prince George’s County, or why they left it there.