Seattle Police recover ‘significant’ amount of stolen wine
Dec 11, 2013, 11:20 AM | Updated: 12:16 pm
Seattle police have located most of the wine stolen from Esquin Wine & Spirits, a South Seattle wine and storage business, during the Thanksgiving holiday. (Google Maps)
(Google Maps)
Seattle police have located most of the wine stolen from a South Seattle wine and storage business during the Thanksgiving holiday.
A search warrant led to the recovery of what police call a “significant” portion of the 200 cases of wine, valued at almost $650,000.
The stolen wine turned up in a climate-controlled building less than a mile away from Esquin Wine & Spirits, in SoDo.
The owners of the business issued a 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. I also can’t begin to express the gratitude we all feel towards the officers, detectives and leaders within the Seattle Police Department for their tireless pursuit of these criminals and the dogged police work that lead to recovery of the wine. Their effort is nothing less than stellar.”
Samuel Harris, 34, and Luke Thesing, 35, are each charged with attempted arson in the 1st degree, second degree burglary and second degree theft in connection with the break in. Police say the defendants cut gas lines and tried to burn down the wine business to destroy evidence of their crimes. A judge set bail for each defendant at $500,000.
