The ability for a Santa Fe food truck operator to make a living and feed his family is in jeopardy after vandals broke into his truck and trashed it.
Randy Tapia of Poki Tako Food Truck discovered the break-in early last week. Thieves broke a lock to the truck to gain entry and stole cash, a generator and ruined food, according to a KOB report.
“When we opened the door, it was just an utter mess," Tapia told KOB. "They destroyed everything. Stole my generator, stole all kinds of stuff, threw all my food out of the refrigerators. Just made a big mess, horrible.”
He believes the vandals could have been drug addicts looking for money. Tapia estimates the vandals did about $10,000 in damages he said his insurance won’t cover.
“This impacts me pretty horrible because I’m barely starting,” Tapia told KOB. “I started Dec. 21, 2021, and I’m barely starting to get traction and get on my feet as a small-business owner, and to have something like this happen – it’s devastating. Especially for the fact that I didn’t even have the correct insurance covering me on this.”
A GoFundMe page has been established to help Tapia get back to serving food to the community again soon. By Wednesday, more than $11,000 had been contributed.
“My goal is to just keep serving the public and get back on my feet as soon as I can," Tapia said. "I love what I do, I love serving people wonderful food and that’s why I got into this business to begin with because I like making people happy through my food."
