Police are investigating a burglary at a southern California wine shop, where a thief stole over $500,000 worth of high-end wine and liquor.
The burglary happened during the early hours of 30 June at Lincoln Fine Wines in Venice, according to a police report. A man – wearing a mask, hoodie and baseball cap – arrived to the store in a white pickup truck with no license plate, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The thief then broke into the store by cutting a five-by-three hole into the roof and lowering himself into the store with a rope.
During the four-hour robbery, the burglar took more than 600 bottles of wine and liquor, the Times reported.
The thief mostly targeted the store’s most expensive wines and liquors, some costing thousands of dollars and many that are irreplaceable, CNN reported.
Among the stolen items was a bottle of Chateau Petrus 2016 valued at $4,500, CNN reported. The Last Drop, a rare Scottish whisky with an estimated value of $6,000, was also stolen.
“It is very hard for me to digest. All my hard work snatched within a couple hours,” said the store’s owner, Nazmul Haque, to CNN.
A sensor in the store ultimately sounded an alarm, causing the thief to flee.
Haque told the Times the store’s other cameras and sensors were disabled earlier in the week by an unknown person.
The thief also covered the cellar’s security camera during the burglary, said the manager of the store, Nick Martinelle, to CNN.
“It was like something out of Ocean’s Eleven. We just couldn’t believe it,” said Martinelle to CNN.
Martinelle also called the burglary “creepy” to CNN, noting that the thief had a thorough understanding of the store’s layout. Bottles of wine on the shelf were not targeted versus more expensive merchandise placed in drawers.
Haque, who was at home and asleep, arrived at approximately 4.30am after receiving a text from the store’s security company. He arrived to find the wine cellar nearly empty, with shattered glass strewn across the store.
“I used to always think they can break in the door and windows. Now, they come through the walls, they come through the roof,” Haque told CNN. “You never know.”
Since the burglary, Haque and Martinelle say they have received an outpouring of support from the community.
On Sunday, nearly 200 customers visited the store, twice as many as normal, the Times reported. A hundred and fifty customers came on Monday to show support after the theft.
“They’re here to support me. That’s a very strong message to me,” Haque told the network. “That helped me a lot to recover from the emotional stress.”
A representative at Lincoln Fine Wines could not be reached by the Guardian for immediate comment.
