New Hanover Co. deputies investigating beer keg thefts

NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — The New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the thefts of $450 worth of empty beer kegs.

Firebelly Restaurant & Lounge Manager Charles Auten said a few weeks ago, he noticed something was off when he went out to the dumpster.

“All of our empty kegs had gone missing,” Auten said.

Auten said they put the empty kegs outside for the distributor to pick up and replace. He said each one costs between $40 to $50 for a deposit.

“You pay a deposit on the actual keg shell, so each time they come in, you turn those shells in,” Auten said. “It keeps you from having to pay deposit after deposit.”

After the incident, Auten said they put a lock on the empty kegs. That still was not enough, because on Thursday it happened again.

“I found that our cable had been cut and again, three of our keg shells were missing,” Auten said.

This time, he said the person did not take the smaller kegs.

“That kind of makes me believe that it’s not somebody scrapping,” Auten said. “It’s somebody that’s found that they can return these kegs somewhere and that they’re only willing to take the half barrels.”

Lt. Jerry Brewer said deputies are investigating the issue. In the meantime, Auten said it’s not easy for them to move the empty kegs inside.

“Restaurant storage space is always limited,’ Auten said. “The second reason is obviously, once these things kick, they always have beer on them and stuff like that. If you store them inside, you start drawing more flies in, more bugs and stuff of that nature.”

Now, Auten said they are looking at their security options, because he said they cannot afford for this to happen again.

“As a small business, you’re always looking to just make ends meet,” Auten said.