Charges filed in Calgary meat theft involving $5K worth of stolen product

He is seen loading a car with stolen products, returning three times over a two-hour span. The car appeared to have a driver waiting inside.

Leavitt estimates that around 400 kilograms of meat, valued at $5,000, was stolen.

‘They took probably four or five boxes of top sirloin, a box of beef trim, a box of chicken thighs, and some bison,’ Leavitt said.

‘Depending on where they sell it, that product could easily go for seven or eight thousand dollars.’

Pre Pak Meats is a small distributor that supplies local restaurants, golf courses, and mom-and-pop butcher shops.

“Most of the product he took is something we use for further processing, it’s not necessarily you’d see necessarily on a retail shelf at Costco or something like that,” Leavitt said.

“He stole a box of beef trim. You can’t do anything with beef trim without grinding it, it makes ground beef,” he said.

“He stole bison, which is random, and he seemed to go right for bison and read the label. The product he took is something you’d use for further processing. It’s hip cuts you would use it to make jerky.”

Employees arriving for work early Tuesday morning immediately called the police.

On Thursday, police confirmed that 43-year-old Jeffrey McPherson was charged in connection with the theft and a break-in at Four20 Premium Market on 72 Avenue S.E. He is scheduled to appear in court on June 21.