SOUTH ST PAUL, Minn. — A Woodbury man is charged with theft after prosecutors say he stole a backpack containing thousands in cash from a popular food truck owner and neighborhood pillar.
Prosecutors say surveillance video led police to 18-year-old Frank Gums Jr., who is now charged with felony theft for allegedly stealing between $20,000 and $30,000 from Mai Vang, known by many as The Eggroll Queen for her popular army of food trucks and her penchant for helping neighbors in need. Besides the cash, court documents say there was also jewelry, electronics and checks in the backpack that was stolen.
It all started Sept. 13, when police were dispatched to a food truck parked in South St. Paul. The owner, who shared her story with KARE 11, was identified as Mai Vang. She says her sister-in-law was running the truck when a man opened the driver's door of the food truck and grabbed her backpack, which contained a large amount of money and other valuables.
Responding officers obtained surveillance video from businesses near the parked truck and were able to learn the license plate of a suspect vehicle and saw a male suspect with a female sitting in the passenger seat.
Investigators eventually spoke to a witness who identified the suspect as "Frank Johnson," and said he had taken her red SUV that was subsequently used in the crime. She said she would frequently contact "Frank" via Facetime to get her truck back, and during one conversation he showed her two green bags with a large amount of cash and checks belonging to the food truck.
Court documents say the truck was eventually located by police at a Bloomington hotel, where staff said a room had been rented out by a "Frank Gums." Officers obtained a warrant and searched the room, but it was empty.
Police obtained a phone number for the suspect and traced it to a motel in St. Paul. There, they found Gums and his alleged female accomplice, who tried to escape through a window. Both were taken into custody.
When questioned, the alleged accomplice told investigators she and Gums were in South St. Paul on Sept. 13 when they saw the food truck, bought something to eat and went back to the car. She said told Gums "not to do it," and insisted she didn't know where the money went.
Detectives then spoke with the defendant, who denied stealing from the food truck, even when presented with surveillance video.
It's not the first challenge faced by Mai Vang, who had a generator and catalytic converter stolen from another truck back in January. She lost much of her hearing after starting to go deaf about 8 years ago. But that hasn't stopped her from helping to feed children during the pandemic, raising funeral expenses for the family of a woman killed by her domestic partner, regularly cooking meals for the homeless and raising money for neighbors in need.
Her community is now returning the love, as she recently told KARE 11's Sharon Yoo, ordering extra eggrolls, tipping big or even making outright donations to help make up for her stolen proceeds.
"When I first started this business, it was because of the community that loved my eggrolls," Vang said. "And they wanted to support me because I went deaf eight years ago. So I felt like, the last eight years of my life have been — it has been up and down. Because of the love from the community, support from the community, it just helps me keep moving forward."
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