Italian Restaurant's 'Cannoli Mobile' Stolen... Again

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Over a decade ago, Kansas City restaurateur Jasper J. Mirabile, Jr. declared that September should be known as National Cannoli Month. He commemorates the occasion every year at Jasper's Italian Restaurant and tries to keep the celebrations going all year round.

This year's National Cannoli Month got off to a less-than-sweet start, though, when someone stole the restaurant's "Cannoli Mobile" right out of its parking lot. At about 4:45 on Sunday afternoon, multiple thieves were captured on Jasper's surveillance cameras breaking in through the white van's windows, presumably hot-wiring it, and then speeding out into traffic.

"They're not going to get anything out of it," Mirabile told KMBC. "There's nothing in it. It was not full of cannolis. It didn't have any value to it. It's just the idea that they stole it again."

That's right: stole it again. In June 2021, the Cannoli Mobile was hot-wired in the early morning hours and driven right out of Jasper's parking lot. KMBC reported that the van was found the next day in south Kansas City — and the alleged thief was asleep in the back of the vehicle.

But at least that theft didn't happen during National Cannoli Month, which is when Mirabile releases a new cannoli every day. He also takes his latest creation to local police departments and gifts them to the officers on duty. "What am I going to do now for National Cannoli Month?" he lamented to KSHB. "I'll have to sit out there on a bicycle or something. Maybe I'll get a cannoli bike!"

Fortunately it didn't come to that: on Thursday morning, the Jasper's Italian Restaurant Facebook page announced that the Cannoli Mobile had been found. "The Kansas City Missouri Police called us this morning at 6 AM and said that they have recovered the van," its post said. "We will be picking it up soon and give a condition report."

Mirable later confirmed to KSHB that the van's bumper and its interior were both damaged, and the battery had been removed. Regardless, he said the Cannoli Mobile could be repaired. With any luck, it'll be back on the roads before National Cannoli Month comes to an end.