CLINTON TOWNSHIP, N.J. — Police believe that they have found the hamburglar who swiped a Ronald McDonald statue from a New Jersey McDonald’s restaurant.
Thomas Roman, 56, was arrested and charged with receiving stolen property, the Hunterdon County Prosecutor's Office said Saturday, the New Jersey Star-Ledger reported.
"We're really excited," Philip Koury, who has owned the restaurant with his wife Diane since 1991, told the Star-Ledger. "But it's not for us, it's for our thousands of customers. He has been a member of our family for the last 20 years. Customers young and old always enjoy sitting with Ronald and taking pictures."
The statue was going to be taken to a safe place when construction crews started work April 24 on refurbishing the restaurant. However, the company had to reschedule the pickup for the next day. The statue was reported missing shortly after that.
The couple first thought it was taken by young people as a prank. But it weighs about 250 pounds and is too large to hide from parents.
The statue was recovered about a week later. Police did not give Koury any information about where it was found or why it was taken.
The statue is no longer made. About 3,000 of the plastic statues were created through 1997. The Kourys purchased theirs in the early 1990s for $7,000.
They plan to have the statue restored before putting it back in the restaurant.
"We're going to clean him up and put him back in his place of honor in the dining room," Koury told the Star-Ledger. "We want him to look his best for our customers in the future."
After capturing national attention for his disappearance, the Ronald McDonald bench from McDonald's in Clinton, NJ has...
Posted by McDonald's of Hunterdon County, NJ on Friday, May 5, 2017
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