Farmer suggests 'pregnant thief' the culprit in ice cream, pickles and honey heist

An Aulac farmer whose farmstand was hit by at least one thief Sunday night says he might have a clue to the mastermind a thief who is pregnant.

"They tookfour or fivejars of pickles, they took 20 or 30 pounds of honey, they took about 40 litres of ice cream," said farmer TomTrueman.

For Trueman, the heist brought to mind what he called the"old stereotype" about the cravings of pregnant women.

"So, we figured, you never know, there could be a pregnant thief.

"They must have a sweet tooth and looking for a little sour to go with it, I guess, a little tang. Hard to say what urge they were trying to satisfy."

Trueman, who is an eighth-generation farmer, arrived at the TruemanBlueberry Farms produce stand onMonday around 7 a.m. and soon realized there'd been a break-in.

"There was garbage over the floor and my first inclination was that we had some wildlife trying to get into the honey bee hive we have in the building," he said.

The more he inspected, the more he realizedhumans were the culprits.

"It was kind of funny, they were thinking ice cream and pickles," he said. "I don't know just what that means."

Beyond inventory, the store lost sound equipment, scales, the air conditioning unit, pop, jam and petty cash.

Trueman said the cost of replacing the stolen goods will run "into the several thousand dollars."

Trueman Blueberry Farms are more than blueberry producers. The Truemans also run 1,000 bee hives andan agri-tourism operation, which includes the farmstandand asunflower maze, and U-pickfields ofpumpkins, blueberries and rasberries.

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"They came right in over top of our observation beehive,so they were very fortunate," he said. "If they hadknocked that offits pedestal and let the bees out, they may have gota pretty good dose of karma."

The observation is home to 8,000 to10,000 bees.

"They were fairly close to jeopardy," he said. "They might not have known it. Ifthose had got out they would have been a little less happy with their choices."

Despite his joking, Trueman said he has no idea who broke into the farm stand.

"I'm sure it's not too far away. Somebody not too far away from here, I would guess."

Trueman said the theft is a sure hit to the business but he'll recover.

"It's all part of being in business."

But now he'll join the21st-centuryand installan alarm system, motion sensors and cameras, although the bees remain an option too, he joked.