Recently, I came across an article about wayward ice cream truck owners. Most of us remember these trucks from our youth – they brought us frosty treats on warm afternoons while toons played throughout the neighborhood. However, this article showed the darker side of the ice cream truck business.

In something that sounds like a bad tv show script, CBS reported that Sno Cone Joe pushed Mr. Ding a Ling out of the market. The dispute had been ongoing, but this year it really heated up after Sno Cone Joe was accused of trying to lure customers from Mr. Ding a Ling. The turf war between ice cream trucks ended in in the arrest of two ice cream truck operators after multiple incidents, including a heated meeting that resulted in one person yelling “This is my town!”

After Googling the dispute, come to find out this isn’t an isolated incident. In 2006, a man murdered another man after a dispute over the building of an ice cream truck. Two men died after a dispute over a family ice cream truck in 2009. And in 2011, a California legislator accused a 73 year old ice cream truck operator of trying to run him over.

So, the lesson from these incidents? Think long and hard before purchasing an ice cream truck business. And if you do, make sure to advise your business attorney that you may need a criminal attorney on speed dial before you sell your first cone!

If you are thinking about starting an ice cream truck business, or any other business, call me, your Denver business attorney, Elizabeth Lewis today at 720-258-6647.