Police hunt wine thief with penchant for Petrus

Police in Connecticut are on the hunt for a 25-year-old man they believe is responsible for a spate of fine wine thefts across  America’s north east.

Police in America’s north east are searching for this man (Photo: Groton Police)

Groton Police said a surveillance video, captured on Monday, appears to show the thief, thought to be Scott Deluca of New York, at the Octagon Restaurant inside the Mystic Marriott in Connecticut, where it says he stole a US$4,800 bottle of 1990 Château Petrus. It’s believed the man had made arrangements with the restaurant’s manager beforehand under the guise of planning a formal dinner party at the venue before committing the theft.

“It’s not just stealing one bottle of wine”, said Detective Lieutenant John Varone, speaking to NBC Connecticut. “It’s stealing a certain bottle of wine. It’s something you see in art thefts or collectable type of thefts. The person targets a specific bottle, locates it, and commits the theft itself.”

The man pictured has since been linked to a series of fine wine crimes in Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey and Bloomfield, where a man in August got away with $1,000 worth of wine from Gillette Ridge Wines.

Deluca has active arrest warrants in New York and New Jersey and, and now Connecticut. Anyone with information should contact Groton Police.