A Peoria family is out of work after their food truck was stolen near Grand and Peoria avenues over the weekend.
“This is part of my dream,” said Ruben Hernandez.
From cook to business owner, Hernandez was truly following his heart.
“I worked for many years in the restaurant, and I said, 'someday I need to have something for our family,'” said Hernandez.
That something came after a trip to San Francisco three years ago. His daughter remembers the day he returned.
“He went there and that’s when he saw his first food truck, that’s all he could talk about, then one day he bought one,” said Julie Hernandez.
The family invested thousands to renovate the truck into a mobile kitchen. They did it to serve the community they loved and the community loved them back.
"We have been doing it for three years, we have regular customers," said Julie Hernandez. “It really hurts that someone would do that to me and my family, because that’s very personal to me, it's a big part of our life.”
Surveillance video from Sunday shows the truck stored in its usual spot at Pro Auto Tech off Grand Avenue. In it a man and woman are seen walking up, jumping in and driving off.
“The lady goes around, she gets inside my food truck, the guy goes and disconnects the electrical cord, wraps it around,” said Julie.
They’ve since filed a police report with Peoria Police. The easily distinguishable black truck with 'Ruby’s Food Truck' written on the side was last seen driving north on Peoria Avenue Sunday.
The Hernandez family says the thought of not getting their truck back is almost too much to bear.
“My soul goes away when I think about it," said Ruben.
“It’s just hard if we were to start this project again, it’s like setting us all the way back,” said Julie.
If you have any information on this case you're asked to contact Peoria Police.
