ELKTON, Md. — It’s alleged the thief stole high-dollar cooking equipment from K&A Crabs in Elkton and other businesses, as well as 10 bushels of live crabs from a business when he crossed into Delaware.
“It’s very expensive,” said Lt. Mike Zack of the Cecil County Sheriff’s Office. “That’s their livelihood, so to take that amount of crabs puts a significant dent in their profit margin.”
Police say they’ve arrested 33-year-old Zachary Bennett, and he’s awaiting extradition, but he’s the same man who owned Captain Zac’s Crab Shack in Elkton, which burned to the ground less than a month ago.
In the aftermath of the fire, Bennett posted on Facebook that he had lost everything and that he had no insurance.
But did he attempt to get back in business on the backs of other crab businesses?
Greg Kauffman, his former landlord, says if anyone is a victim, it’s him.
“I’m out the green building back there—probably $125,000 and also my walk-in freezer, which I shared with my bait and tackle store,” said Kauffman. “That’s about $25,000 plus whatever it is to install it.”
Kauffman says Bennett plugged in a chest freezer with an insufficient cord, which sparked the fire and the ensuing explosion, which threatened his nearby home.
“In that shack, he stored three hundred-pound propane bottles, so two of them went off like a flamethrower and the third one exploded,” said Kauffman.
A series of reckless decisions that led to a devastating loss, but Kauffman says that’s no excuse for turning others into victims.
“He’s got GoFundMe up asking people for donations at the same time stealing people’s merchandise,” said Kauffman. “People that are working harder than he is, you know, struggling to make a business, especially in the crab business.”
