Berthoud Weekly Surveyor | Covering all the angles in the Garden Spot

Sticky situation for suspected honey thief

August 09, 2019 | Local News

By Amber McIver-Traywick

The Surveyor

A suspect has been arrested after security camera footage was shared by media outlets across the state of a man stealing honey from a self-serve stand in Berthoud.

Gregory Neal

Gregory Neal, 50, was arrested in Weld County on unrelated traffic offenses and then identified as a suspect in the honey theft. Neal was cited for an investigation of the theft and for trespassing.

The incident began earlier in the year when Berthoud resident Marie Koolstra, who has been selling her honey at a self-serve stand along U.S. Highway 56 for over 20 years, caught two individuals on a security camera stealing her honey. The thief returned on at least three occasions late at night and in the early morning hours, taking hundreds of dollars’ worth of product.

The video footage, which Koolstra originally shared on social media to try to help discover the identity of the thief, was captured by a Ring security camera she had installed earlier in the year near the honey stand. The camera caught the dark-colored SUV pull up on multiple occasions and a clear shot of the male driver’s face as he emptied the stand, passing the contents to a female accomplice. The camera was unable to clearly capture the vehicle’s license plate number. 

Courtesy photo – A still from the security camera footage taken during the theft of a honey stand in Berthoud.

The video went viral and was picked up by multiple media outlets. Several tips were soon after submitted to the Weld County Sheriff’s Office identifying Neal as the culprit after the story aired on the Denver Fox affiliate station.

The woman also seen in the video has not yet been identified, and it is not known whether she will face any potential charges.

Neal has had several run-ins with the law, including resisting an officer, DUIs, and probation violations. According to Weld County arrest records, Neal has since been released from custody on $4,000 bond.

related Local News