"Awesome Fest" Stolen Van Recovered, Thousands Of Dollars Of Equipment Gone
By Steve Patterson
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – It is a bittersweet start to the New Year for Josh Goldbloom.
"It's been absolutely unreal," he said while pointing to a vacant lot. "It's Horrible, definitely a worst case scenario."
Goldbloom is the founder, proprietor and artistic director of AwesomeFest, a year-round mobile celebration of independent film that puts on shows all over Philadelphia.
"We like to think that we're spreading some love and filmatic joy," he said.
On Tuesday morning, Goldbloom woke up at his Northern Liberties home to find his beloved 1993 Dodge van, once parked in a back lot, missing. He says he reported it stolen to police and tipped off area news.
"First and foremost to CBS Philly," he said. "They ran the report and we believe it was what was able to lead us to the vehicle."
New Year's morning, an anonymous tip lead police to the vehicle, which was discovered in the same neighborhood, just two blocks away. But everything inside, including $50,000 to $60,000 of projection equipment, was apparently taken. Essentially it was everything needed to run AwesomeFest.
"Ultimately we're not going to let bums stop us from doing the things we love," he said. "We're going to push forward. Hopefully we can find the perpetrators and it's a better start to the new year than we had planned."
A private surveillance camera tracking motion in the area snapped a photo during what Goldbloom believes is the drop off.
Police have that photo and are investigating. So far, no arrests have been made.
"A little bit of some New Year's joy," he said. "We could use that right now."