Somebody hauled off Njeri Thompson's entire livelihood on August 11 while she was at home recovering from a series of seizures. The Mac Queen, her Black-owned, women-led food truck known across Metro Atlanta for gourmet mac and cheese, specialty burgers and vegan comfort food, disappeared from its usual spot on Jonesboro Road — trailer, equipment and all.
Thompson relies on the business to support her family and fund her daughter's college education, and she was sidelined by her epilepsy when the theft happened, according to Atlanta News First. Whoever took the trailer didn't just hitch it up and drive off — they had to defeat six separate security locks first, a level of effort that suggests the theft was planned rather than opportunistic, per the same station's reporting.
“This my legacy. Took that from us,” Thompson said, according to FOX 5 Atlanta, which reported that thieves bypassed the truck's locks and made off with the entire mobile setup. She's now asking the public to keep an eye out for suspicious online listings that might be tied to the stolen equipment, and anyone with information is asked to contact the Atlanta Police Department.
A Trailer Vanishes From a Neighborhood Food Truck Hub
The Mac Queen operated out of 1800 Jonesboro Road SE in Atlanta's Lakewood neighborhood, a commercial lot that regularly hosts community food truck gatherings and pop-ups alongside businesses like Black Coffee Atlanta, according to Black Restaurant Week. It's the kind of spot where the truck built its following — Thompson launched the business specializing in the comfort-food staples that made it a regular at regional food truck festivals, per the Food Truck Club's business listing.
A community alert from the Food Truck Association of Georgia gave the first real lead: a witness reported seeing a black pickup truck towing the white Mac Queen trailer down Jonesboro Road shortly after it went missing. Local food truck networks routinely circulate alerts like this one to help track down stolen equipment before it disappears into resale listings.
Recovery Odds Remain Grim Despite Falling Theft Rates
The broader crime numbers might sound encouraging, but they mask a much harder reality for someone in Thompson's position. Atlanta Police Department statistics from mid-2025 showed motor vehicle thefts citywide had dropped 40% year over year, with overall property crime down 13% during the same stretch, according to the Atlanta Police Foundation. Statewide, Georgia auto thefts fell nearly 28% in 2025, sliding from 23,900 reported cases to 17,200, per National Insurance Crime Bureau data cited by WSB-TV.
Fewer thefts don't necessarily mean better odds of getting property back, though. FBI crime data analyzed in August 2026 found that the Atlanta Police Department cleared only about 10.2% of motor vehicle theft cases in 2025 — a rebound from a dismal 3.9% clearance rate in 2024, but still a steep hill to climb, as reported by Jalopnik. Those low clearance figures reflect how difficult it is for investigators to track towed trailers once they're off the lot.
What Georgia Law Says About the Theft
Under Georgia law, theft by taking involving a motor vehicle or commercial trailer valued over $5,000 is charged as a felony carrying one to ten years in prison, according to Justia Law. Commercial equipment thefts like this one face enhanced statutory sentencing thresholds compared to lesser property crimes.
The Mac Queen's disappearance fits a troubling pattern for mobile food vendors across the Southeast, who lack the fixed-building security of a traditional restaurant. Knoxville's Dulcie's Cafe trailer was stolen and later recovered in 2025, while Nashville's Gio's Chicago Pizza shut down entirely in 2026 after repeated equipment thefts wore the business down. For now, Thompson is counting on the Food Truck Association of Georgia's network and the public's tips to bring her trailer — and her family's income — back.
