About 80 percent of equipment stolen at Downtown Austin Drive In

The burglary at the Blue Starlite Mini Urban Drive In was announced Thursday on the theater's Facebook page. They said four storage trailers were broke into. 

Theater owner Josh Frank said the thieves took projectors and generators, about 80% of what they had on site. The Drive in is at the top of a San Antonio St. parking garage, and it became a safe escape during the pandemic.

Frank told FOX 7 he was notified about the theft by an employee who runs the site.

"And as I'm getting there, I'm getting reports from my guy who's going through the trailers. He's like, ‘they got all the projectors. They got all the generators.’ And I said, 'well, what's left?' And he said, ‘not much,'" said Frank. "And the ironic thing is the one thing they didn't take that they couldn't take because it weighs 600 pounds is our new movie projector, which was our biggest investment recently. But that's down this month because we're missing a part."

Frank and his employees pieced together what was left, and the downtown show will still go on. However, make no mistake, he is upset about being victimized.

"We count on every piece of equipment that we have. We count on every dollar that comes in to get through each month and each year. So we could stay here for our fans, old and new. And, you know, it was very devastating. And it's very personal to me," said Frank.

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They are taking new security measures and will buy new security equipment.

"Like, how horrible do you have to be to go for the bottom feed like that? You know, like we have more than you, but not much, you know? Also, why did you take our cooler? You got everything else? Why did you have to add insult to injury and take our $8 cooler also," said Frank.

About $2,500 in donations have been collected so far to help purchase replacement equipment. A donation link is on the drive in’s webpage.

"So my hope is that in the next 3 to 6 months, I can at least rebuild enough through help from the community. We've got some opportunities, donations and things to get what I need to keep going right now," said Frank.

The original location for the Blue Starlite on EM Franklin Ave., near the Mueller development, was not hit. It remains on its regular schedule and show times for both locations are on the drive in's website.