Georgia thief gets away with $15,000 worth of beef

ROSWELL, Ga. - A man who had just been hired by an upscale steakhouse in Georgia is accused of stealing $15,000 of beef from an outdoor cooler.

The man was scheduled to begin work a little over a week ago at Uncle Jack’s in Roswell, but allegedly stole the expensive meat last Monday and Thursday, according to authorities.

Roswell police said warrants accuse the man of two counts of second-degree burglary.

William Degel owns the New York-based Uncle Jack’s restaurant chain.

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He said after the first break-in, better locks were installed — but surveillance video from Thursday shows the man cutting them off the next day.

Video appears to show the suspect pull into the restaurant’s parking lot on Valentine’s Day and then walk over to the external freezer before heading inside of it. The man then takes off with box after box of meats.

Police are now searching for Warren Kearney, of Sandy Springs.

“He took just about everything high end in there,” said General Manager Eddie Elrod.

Elrod says days before the first crime, a man came in looking for a job. He says the name on the application was Kearney’s.

“He had come in looking for a cook position,” said Elrod.

“It’s just such a violation,” said Elrod. “It takes away from the servers we have here and then what money they can make because then we’re not able to serve as many guests and it just, unfortunately, they’re the ones who get hurt the hardest.”