According to Ohio.com, $1,500 worth in beer was stolen over the weekend from Tim Owens’ Travelers Tavern, the Akron, Ohio bar and restaurant co-owned by former JUDAS PRIEST and ICED EARTH singer Tim “Ripper” Owens. 70 cases of beer was taken from an outdoor walk-in cooler over the weekend. The theft was discovered Saturday morning.
“It’s a really sad thing that someone had to do this,” said Tim “Ripper” Owens, co-owner of the restaurant and music venue. “Any time you get ahead in a business and someone does this, it’s hard.”
Owens said the outdoor cooler was protected with heavy-duty locks — but the thief or thieves mangled the door with what he guessed were a crowbar and a hammer.
Owens added that the culprit “was probably an old employee or a regular who knew the cooler was back there and happened to steal that night.”
Since the theft was discovered Saturday morning, precautions have been taken to ensure it won’t happen again. A new fence with razor wire has been erected around the cooler, additional security cameras have been built and there are plans to add new locks to the cooler door.
As it turns out, the thieves stole from the bar on a significant night. The tavern, located at 2727 Manchester Road, had extra stock — including Miller Lite, Bud Light and craft beers — because of a wake it was hosting that weekend.
“I don’t think it had anything to do with the event,” Owens said. “I think it was probably an old employee or a regular who knew the cooler was back there and happened to steal that night.”
Micah Posten, co-owner and general manager of the tavern, said he and Owens have taken precautions since the theft to ensure it won’t happen again. A new fence with razor wire has been erected around the cooler, additional security cameras have been built and new locks are to be added to the cooler door.
“They’re going to have to really work to get in if they want to get in again,” Posten said. “Unfortunately, locks only keep good people out.”
He said he suspects the thieves had been watching for a while before they struck because another nearby business, the Pizza Hut on Manchester Road, was broken into the same night. Nothing was stolen in that case, but the thieves disabled a security camera in the process.
“They’ve probably been casing to hit at the right time,” he said.
