Parksley, Va. couple taking matters to court amid food truck feud

PARKSLEY, Va. – What started out as a dream to run a Haitian food truck in Parksley, Virginia, quickly turned into a nightmare for Theslet Benior and Clemen Bastien.

“Since November 6th, they’ve been completely unable to operate their food truck, and every day that passes is another day that they would’ve been selling home cooked Haitian food to people on the Eastern Shore,” said Institute of Justice attorney, Dylan Moore.

In June 2023, the couple hit the road in the Eben–Ebzer food truck. They said by the 17th of that month, they were being harassed by Parksley town councilman, Henry Nicholson.

Moore is representing the couple and said an interaction between the two parties was a catalyst for the food truck to eventually be shut down.

“Councilman Nicholson tried to prevent a box truck from delivering groceries to the food truck,” Moore said. “When Clement confronted him, he told her to go back to her own country, which is a horrible thing to say, and it does shed some light on his motivation.”

Moore believes that Nicholson was trying to prevent competition to restaurants in the area.

“I think he wanted to protect those restaurants’ bottom lines from what he and the restaurant owners saw as a perceived threat to their business,” Moore said.

47 ABC reached out to the Parksley town government for comment, but they said they have yet to receive the documents, so they will not be commenting at this time.

Now, as Benoir and Bastien take their case to court, Moore said the two are seeking financial compensation for the damages.

“Their inability to gain revenue from this investment that they poured so much time, energy and effort into has really been difficult for them,” Moore said. “They’re looking to recoup the lost profits for every day that they’ve been unable to operate their food truck.”