The Virginian-Pilot
                             THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Saturday, July 9, 1994                 TAG: 9407090183
SECTION: FRONT                    PAGE: A1   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY MIKE MATHER, STAFF WRITER 
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                     LENGTH: Short :   35 lines

CRUMMY CRIME: 500,000 COOKIES MISSING AFTER TRUCK STOLEN IN BEACH

Detectives are searching for a thief who stole a delivery truck laden with 500,000 cookies. The suspect's identifying marks could include a grotesquely oversized sweet tooth.

Virginia Beach police spokesman Lou Thurston said Norfolk police on Friday found the truck abandoned at the intersection of 28th Street and Colley Avenue ``minus at least a half-million cookies.''

The Murray Cookies truck was stolen in Virginia Beach shortly after 1 p.m. Thursday from a Be-Lo Foods store on Level Green Boulevard near the intersection of Indian River Road, Thurston said. The keys had been left on the dashboard.

Thurston said the cookies - including batches of Jack's cookies, Murray's cookies and Famous Amos cookies - were valued at $5,000. The truck also was valued at $5,000.

Detectives are operating on the assumption that it might be difficult to unload a half-million cookies on the streets of Hampton Roads without someone noticing. They are asking the public's help in cracking the cookie caper.

Anyone with information about the crime is asked to call 427-0000. Callers may be eligible for a reward - cash, not cookies. ILLUSTRATION: [Illustration of a cookie]

KEYWORDS: ROBBERY by CNB