Thieves steal trailer belonging to pop-up nachos business

San Jose - The owner of a pop-up nachos business is devastated after thieves stole his SUV and trailer near San Jose. The SUV later turned up, but the trailer that carries all of his equipment is still missing.

"How do you just steal somebody’s livelihood like that?" asked Anthony Vallarta. "If you go inside the truck, you can tell somebody runs a business out of it. I have an ice chest, a cooler, I have some grills."

It happened sometime on the night of New Year’s Day. Vallarta had parked his GMC Suburban near a friend’s house at Wainwright Avenue and Scott Street near San Jose. 

But when he woke up the next day, both the truck and trailer were gone, with all of his gear and supplies.

"I had a lot of my cooking equipment, I had a bunch of product, I had some precious metals and some personal belongings," he said.

The father of four relied on the trailer to make a living across the state, cooking up all sorts of nacho plates. On Instagram, he's known as @our.nachoz.

"We pop up all over the Bay area. San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose, Gilroy," Vallarta said. "We’ve done Los Angeles. We go all over the place."

Santa Clara County sheriff’s deputies responded to the scene. 

San Jose police later found Vallarta’s truck, which apparently had been hot-wired. Both license plates were missing. 

"They messed up the engine, they thrashed the interior, they broke the dashboard," Vallarta said.

But the 10-foot Wells Cargo trailer is still missing. Vallarta says his loss is at least $25,000. He's set up a Gofundme to help raise money to replace his equipment.

Anyone who sees the trailer is asked to contact the Santa Clara County sheriff's office or any local law-enforcement agency.

Henry Lee is a KTVU crime reporter. E-mail Henry at Henry.Lee@fox.com and follow him on Twitter @henrykleeKTVU and www.facebook.com/henrykleefan