Ripe for the taking: thieves steal 50,000 apples from Indiana orchard....

[The Tradition]

Some 50,000 apples — ripe for the taking — were stolen from an Indiana orchard in a juicy heist that’s baffled and disappointed the farm’s fledgling owners.

When Jon Drummond drove through his 135-acre apple orchard last week and discovered barren Golden Delicious apple trees, he was so shocked he could hardly believe it.

“I was like, ‘Wait what?" Drummond said. "I mean, all of a sudden you go through a huge block of trees and it is completely picked through.”

When Drummond and his wife, Robyn, who own Williams Orchard in LaPorte, Indiana, noticed the block of fruitless trees, they concluded they were the victims of a commercial robbery that will cost them nearly $30,000 in revenue, they said.

“We have pretty awesome neighbors who tipped us off that someone had seen somebody out here,” Robyn Drummond said. At first, she believed the thieves were mistaken for the farm’s own pickers who collect apples to be sold.

Apple trees at Williams Orchard in LaPorte, Indiana. The orchard owners say they were the victims of a commercial robbery after 50,000 apples were stolen, costing them nearly $30,000 in revenue. (Williams Orchard / HANDOUT)
“I didn’t believe it at first. I thought it was a mistake,” she said. “We’re in Indiana, this is a small town. I would have never in a million years had guessed this would happen.”

Around 50,000 apples were shaken off trees and stolen from the orchard, Jon Drummond said. He estimates the retail value of the Golden Delicious apples to be about $27,000 and said the apples may be used to make cider or applesauce, or sold through wholesalers.

“It really hurt, but we still have a lot of apples," he said. “It probably took out about 10 percent of our orchard or so.”

The couple said they made a police report with the LaPorte County sheriff’s office. A representative of the sheriff’s office told CBS affiliate WSBT 22, which first reported the story, that police are searching for someone with a pickup truck or trailer likely used in the commission of the crime.

Drummond said they do not have any insurance or protections on the orchard and can not recoup the loss.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/news...0190929-m5tio5rryre3hjiacbpowgbypy-story.html

How about them apples?

 

[LesClaypool]

I blame this guy

 

[SoonerBeAHawk]

The poster who started the apple thread ... did he post anything on the evening in question?

 

[The Tradition]

Holy crap! Another orchard theft! This time in Michigan....

Apple thieves snuck onto a Michigan family farm and stole more than 3 tons of fruit right off of the trees.

The heist was discovered October 10, when workers from Spicer Orchards came to pick the fruit, Shannon Rowe told CNN on Thursday.

Her parents own the orchard and she's a partner in the business.

"We are just shocked and stunned," Rowe said. "We just can't believe it happened. It was last week during the night. It wiped out most the apple crop."

Spicer Orchards is a popular fall destination near Flint, where families come to pick their own apples and enjoy cider, donuts and other treats.

Rowe said the theft happened at a secondary orchard, where they grow apples for cider and to sell in their market. She said they'd checked the apples a few days earlier to see if they were ready to pick.

The haul was worth between $15,000 and $25,000, she said.

"It was the more expensive apples. EverCrisp, Jonagold, Northern Spy, Fuji," Rowe said.

It would normally take a two- or three-person crew a couple of days to pick that many apples.

"They must have had a trained crew to pick the apples in that short of a time period," she said.

It looks like the thieves got to the farm by taking a side street and then crossing a neighbor's property, Rowe said.

The only clue, so far, is some tire tracks.

Genesee County Sheriff Rober J. Pickell told CNN that they've been interviewing neighbors, but haven't found any witnesses.

The job would have taken a fairly large crew, but Pickell said that a bunch of apple pickers wouldn't be suspicious at this time of year.

Authorities are also checking to see if any security cameras in the area spotted the thieves or the vehicles.

Rowe said they didn't have any surveillance cameras. Nothing like this has ever happened in the farm's 50-year history.

Spicer Orchards isn't the only farm that's been hit by produce bandits.
Someone stole 50,000 apples last month from a farm in LaPorte County, Indiana, and CNN affiliate WXYZ reports that almost 400 pumpkins were stolen recently from another Michigan farm.

Rowe said that Spicer Orchards is still open to the public and will continue normal operations.

"We will just have to see how far the apple crop will go," she said.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/18/us/michigan-apple-theft-trnd/index.html