AURORA, Colo. — Thieves took a propane patio heater from the doorstep of a local bar and restaurant just minutes after it was delivered.
”Two men came up right behind the UPS truck and came behind the building, grabbed the heater and the box,” Dean Nenni, the owner of Parkway Bar & Grill, said.
The men got into an older gold or silver Honda and drove away.
Nenni said he had been waiting months for the heater. The heaters are hard to find because they are in high demand.
They are also expensive. He paid over $300 for the one that was stolen.
“With the snow and the cold there is not a whole lot of people who want to sit out there, not enough to generate any real income,” Nenni said.
The pandemic has been tough on Parkway Bar and Grill.
They have over 60 employees. Nenni says business is down 70%. They are surviving on takeout.
He has spent more and more to make outdoor dining work, while he sees others flouting the rules.
“Unless you break the rules and build yourself an existing tent with all four sides and heat it, outdoor dining is pretty limited in Colorado,” he said.
Nenni hopes someone will identify the two men and call Aurora police. He says this is the second time a heater was stolen soon after delivery.
“Because of these obscene restrictions they are putting on restaurants, we are chasing every penny we can right now to stay afloat,” Nenni said.
Two customers heard about the theft and gifted the restaurant a new propane heater right of the box, giving Nenni a little hope during these hard times.
“There’s way more great people than the scumbags who took my heater. It’s unbelievable, I am blown away,” Nenni said.