FRESNO, Calif. (KMPH) -
"They picked it clean. We even had ice chests with food in here. It's gone. They're going to eat and sell our stuff," Albert DeLuna said, looking at an empty trailer.
Less than 24 hours earlier, that trailer was full.
"We had a cotton candy machine in there, popcorn machine in there. We had a 42 inch flat screen TV in there," he said. "About $10,000 worth of fireworks."
All of that stuff is worth about $30,000.
The "Knights of the Shield" raiders' fan club uses it for its fireworks stand.
"Marjaree Mason Center and March of Dimes and any other local organization," Eric Takikawa, club member, said. "That's where the money goes. Everything we make goes back out to the community to support those causes."
The trailer was parked outside Takikawa's house Sunday night.
"I came out this morning to start my wife's car and I go out there and the trailer's not there. I felt like I had a heart attack," he said.
But the thugs who took the trailer couldn't stop this club.
Members went back to the TNT warehouse Monday morning and bought about $3,000 worth of fireworks and restocked the stand.
"I don't think people that steal from clubs like this, they don't realize the impact it has on other people," DeLuna, the club's president, said.
In the middle of shooting our story, club members got a call that the CHP had tracked the trailer down.
So we went to check it out with them. The trailer was empty.
"Well they left us some nails," DeLuna said. "We're happy to have our trailer. This is about $8,000 right here that we don't have to spend to get another trailer."
But the $10,000 worth of fireworks and everything else that was in there will have to be replaced, which means places like the Marjaree Mason Center won't benefit nearly as much.
"It is kind of sad because it's taking away from people who actually need it more than we do," Takikawa said.
To add insult to injury, the club had to pay more than $200 just to get the trailer out of a towing yard.
That's because it was found even before it was reported stolen.
So the CHP had to tow it because they didn't know who it belonged to.
If you'd like to help, the firework stand is located at Blackstone and Ashlan and will stay open until 10 p.m., including on the 4th of July.
