Popular Wichita sno cone stand swiped over the weekend, but fans quickly track it down
Connor Penka usually felt pretty comfortable leaving his popular sno cone trailer, Rockin Rico’s Snow Balls, at its regular spot at the corner of Kellogg and Rock.
It’s a high-traffic intersection, he always reasoned. And really, would anyone go to the trouble to take it?
“Who would take a snowcone stand?” he said on Monday. “It’s kind of worthless if you don’t know what you’re doing with it.”
But on Saturday morning, Penka, 22, pulled up to the corner and found it empty. His heart started racing.
The trailer, a business he took over from his mom, is his whole livelihood, he said. He didn’t freak out, but he knew he had to find it.
Less than five hours later, he had — largely thanks to the mobilization of the Rockin Rico’s fan base and social media following.
“They’re really the ones who came through,” he said.
Now, Penka has his trailer back, but he won’t be able to open it again until he replaces the power cord the thieves stole, and he’s working on that now. He hopes to resume his normal hours — 1 to 9 p.m. daily — soon.
On Monday, he shared the story of his harrowing Saturday.
Penka said he pulled up to the spot on the south east corner of Rock and Kellogg where his trailer should have been about 11 a.m. to drop off some ice and take inventory. The trailer specializes in New Orleans-style “sno balls,” which feature fine, fluffy ice.
But all he found were a couple of cinder blocks that his staff used as steps up to the trailer.
Penka immediately called the police and posted on his Facebook page that the trailer was missing, asking people to keep an eye out. His post was shared 2,600 times.
He got some reports right away. Someone had seen two people loading up the trailer. Someone else had seen it traveling on a street in South Wichita, and whoever was hauling the trailer was driving erratically.
Penka followed the tips all over town. Finally, he heard from someone who’d seen it parked in a back yard in west Wichita. Penka called the police, who came and retrieved it from the homeowners, who said they’d been hired to clean it. No arrests have been reported in the case. (And the trailer is quite clean now, Penka said.)
There wasn’t really any damage to the trailer besides the missing power cord and some stolen credit card machines, Penka said. He still can’’t believe how quickly his network of fans was able to locate it.
In the future, he said, he’ll take off the “trailer tongue” that he had left in place, assuming his rig was safe. With that removed, it would be nearly impossible for someone to drive away with the trailer again, he said.
In the meantime, Penka said, he’s also working on opening a second trailer in a new spot in Derby — in the parking lot of the Mattress Firm at 1725 N. Rock Road. In past summers, he’d parked it on K-15 in Derby.
Business has been brisk since he opened the Rock Road trailer in late April, Penka said. Kids being stuck inside and stir crazy with no school seems to have helped with business and with attracting new fans.
Fans who are apparently skilled in solving crimes.
“With the kids being locked up, it’s nice to get a sense of normalcy, even if it is a cup of ice and sugar,“ Penka said. “It’s nice to see them smile.”
This story was originally published May 18, 2020 at 4:28 PM.
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