The manager of Miguel's Cocina believes the men who stole a 3-foot tall bronze pig statue from the front of the restaurant may soon be returning it.
Kevin Mattick said that he got a call from a man after the story aired on NBC.
The man "sounded a bit scared" said Mattick. "He wanted to return it and was wondering what it would take for the charges to be dropped," he said.
Get your news delivered to you, sign up for email and mobile alerts now
The theft of the $15,000 statue took place at daybreak on April 5th, and now, police believe, the pig may not have been the thieves' original target. Six hours earlier, the men were checking out an ATM 40 feet away from their porcine prize.
Mattick thinks the caller is the suspect whose face is clearly seen in a bank surveillance video which captured the theft of the bronze pig. Shortly after getting that phone call, Mattick says the phone rang again.
"A lady called and said she recognized him and gave me his name and where he works on the weekends," Mattick said.
Local
The restaurant manager says Chula Vista Police detectives now have this new information but it is still unclear if they have made any arrests in the case.
The pig was commissioned for the opening of the mall more than five years ago and sat in front of a bronze plaque that reads: "Eat more beef." Now that spot -- with a couple of the bolts still showing -- is covered with a trash can.
Nobody's sure how much the porker weighs; only that it took a couple of tries for the thieves to knock it over backing up in a pickup truck. It took both of them to lift it onto the truck.
"I'm sure we'll be seeing them on world's dumbest criminals," Mattick said.
