Our local $600,000 wine heist

[Roy Hersh]

http://blogs.seattletimes.com/today/201 ... tle-store/

[Peter W. Meek]

Someone has been watching too many "caper" movies. Hope they track down the wine.

At least the temperatures have been "friendly" to wine removed from storage conditions. If they recover it, probably it won't have been damaged by something like a 100 degree day, or a hard freeze.

[Andy Velebil]

IIRC, they have arrested at least one person who did this. They forgot to cover one camera and spent a long time inside the place. Oh, and they rented a locker using their real names and addresses at some point prior to the theft. Opps. If it wasn't for stupid criminals they'd never get caught.

[Miguel Simoes]

That was some pricey wine... average is $270/bottle.

[Eric Menchen]

That was some pricey wine... average is $270/bottle.

As Port drinkers we are fairly spoiled. Sure, a bottle of VP is more than a red table wine at your local liquor store, but generally not more than $100. Bottles of Nacional aren't that common, and even really old bottles are usually in the $hundreds, not thousands. But try to find an old first growth Bordeaux for less than $270. Our how about a 2005 DRC La Tâche? I just checked wine-searcher, and the cheapest listing I found was from ebay.fr, currently at US$ 2,159, with 3+ days left to go in the auction, for a single bottle. If you exclude the auctions, a single bottle starts around US$ 3,500.

[Glenn E.]

That was some pricey wine... average is $270/bottle.

As Port drinkers we are fairly spoiled. Sure, a bottle of VP is more than a red table wine at your local liquor store, but generally not more than $100. Bottles of Nacional aren't that common, and even really old bottles are usually in the $hundreds, not thousands. But try to find an old first growth Bordeaux for less than $270. Our how about a 2005 DRC La Tâche? I just checked wine-searcher, and the cheapest listing I found was from ebay.fr, currently at US$ 2,159, with 3+ days left to go in the auction, for a single bottle. If you exclude the auctions, a single bottle starts around US$ 3,500.

True, but I just can't fathom keeping bottles like those in off-site storage. If I had the money to buy $3000 bottles of wine, I'd also have the money to build myself a very nice wine cellar in my garage (or basement, or whatever). No way I'd entrust such valuable bottles to someone else!

[Roy Hersh]

Glenn,

City dwellers in Seattle don't always have the luxury of space that burbanites like us may have out here. Same goes for those with high rise apartments or condos. I've kept wine/Port in offsite storage facilities in Florida, Virgina and Seattle Wine Storage until I finally had my own cellar built a dozen years ago. I'd have to do the math to see if I've yet begun to save money by having a cellar vs. having my wine stored professionally. There are always trade offs and security at the three facilities where my wines were stored, were ALL quite excellent; not to mention being bonded and duly insured.

[Eric Menchen]

I wonder how well my homeowner's insurance will cover my wine in the event of a claim. I think an offsite place probably has better odds of covering against theft or catastrophic loss.

[Glenn E.]

I wonder how well my homeowner's insurance will cover my wine in the event of a claim. I think an offsite place probably has better odds of covering against theft or catastrophic loss.

I think that depends entirely on whether or not you have a separate rider for the wine. Large, unusual collections such as wine, art, or Magic cards in my case, are typically not covered by homeowner's insurance. But you can get a rider to cover them, at which point it's all based on the terms of your rider. My two collections are large enough now that we're considering getting riders for them.

[Eric Menchen]

Large, unusual collections such as wine, art, or Magic cards in my case, are typically not covered by homeowner's insurance. But you can get a rider to cover them, at which point it's all based on the terms of your rider. My two collections are large enough now that we're considering getting riders for them.

Last I spoke to my insurance company, they said I didn't need a rider. But that was before I had what I do now.

[Paul Fountain]

I wonder how well my homeowner's insurance will cover my wine in the event of a claim. I think an offsite place probably has better odds of covering against theft or catastrophic loss.

My house insurance doesn't cover me for wine at home, but I have insurance on my wine in storage that I am able to buy through the facility

[Glenn E.]

Large, unusual collections such as wine, art, or Magic cards in my case, are typically not covered by homeowner's insurance. But you can get a rider to cover them, at which point it's all based on the terms of your rider. My two collections are large enough now that we're considering getting riders for them.

Last I spoke to my insurance company, they said I didn't need a rider. But that was before I had what I do now.

Yeah there's usually a value threshold, which varies by insurance company. As I recall, any collection I have is covered up to $10,000, but above that I need a rider.

[Bradley Bogdan]

Large, unusual collections such as wine, art, or Magic cards in my case, are typically not covered by homeowner's insurance. But you can get a rider to cover them, at which point it's all based on the terms of your rider. My two collections are large enough now that we're considering getting riders for them.

Last I spoke to my insurance company, they said I didn't need a rider. But that was before I had what I do now.

Yeah there's usually a value threshold, which varies by insurance company. As I recall, any collection I have is covered up to $10,000, but above that I need a rider.

Same with my policy

[Roy Hersh]

Forget policies. Here is more great news!

UPDATE to story:



Police recover wine from Thanksgiving Day heist
Posted by John de Leon

Update at 1:51 p.m.:| Seattle police say the 2,500 bottles of stolen wine were recovered at a Sodo storage and manufacturing facility, but they aren’t prepared to release the name.
In the meantime, police are undertaking “the difficult task” of processing the wine. “Detectives need to photograph and document each bottle, enter it into evidence, and then we need to find the owner of each bottle,” Investigations Lt.Greg Schmidt said.

Police say some of the victims may not yet even know their wine was stolen since Esquin Wine & Storage staff and detectives are still attempting to reach the hundreds of people who rented specially temperature controlled storage units in the store.

Original post:| Seattle police announced this morning that they have recovered a ‘substantial’ amount of wine stolen during an elaborate Thanksgiving Day heist from a Sodo wine storage business.
The wine was recovered Tuesday after police served a search warrant at a building less than a mile away from Esquin Wine & Spirits, according to police. Police say it appears the wine had been kept in a “temperature controlled environment.” There was some concern that the wine, if not properly stored, could be damaged during the recent spate of subfreezing weather.

Chuck LeFever, owner of Esquin, has issued the following statement:
Words can’t express how thrilled we are that the wine stolen from our facility on Thanksgiving Day has been safely recovered. While we are still doing an inventory to make sure it’s all there, the volume recovered makes us eager with anticipation and we can’t wait to share the good news with our customers.

Thieves made off with more than 200 cases of wine, valued at $648,000, from Esquin Wine & Spirits on Nov. 28. Dan Miller, a spokesman for Esquin, said last week the company is offering $20,000 for information that leads to the “safe recovery of the wine.”

Charged with attempted first-degree arson, second-degree burglary and second-degree theft in connection with the thefts are Luke Thesing, 35, and Samuel Harris, 34. Thesing works as a plumber for Harris’ plumbing company, charging papers say.

The men are each being held in the King County Jail in lieu of $500,000 bail.

The two men are accused of disabling motion detectors, spray-painting over surveillance cameras, sawing through plasterboard to access vintages in private storage lockers, charges say. They are also accused of tampering with gas lines that could have caused a big explosion had the gas reached an open flame, charging papers say.
Despite efforts to cover up the theft, one of the Esquin cameras wasn’t completely painted over and employees at the wine facility were able to identify Harris, who used his name and address on forms to rent a wine-storage unit, charging papers say.

The identity of his alleged accomplice, however, remained a mystery until last week, according to charging papers. Police found receipts to home-improvement stores among Harris’ belongings when he was booked, the papers say.

Based on the dates and times on those receipts, detectives were able to get surveillance footage from a Lowe’s store on Rainier Avenue South, which showed Harris and Thesing purchasing supplies, the papers say.

A shipping label found in Harris’ wine-storage locker led detectives to a San Francisco wine consultant, who told police he purchased $100,000 of wine from Harris and another man in April or May, charging papers say. Through an online search, Detective Don Jones determined there had been a large wine theft in the Bay Area in March, the papers say.
Police in Seattle are comparing notes with their counterparts in San Francisco to see if there’s a link between the thefts.

[Eric Menchen]

Not as many bottles, but our local theft here in Colorado:
http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_24688 ... from-brown