A thief with very expensive taste has been targeting St. Louis area wine shops.Authorities in Missouri are on the lookout now that his crimes have been caught on surveillance cameras.Dustin Endicott was busy stocking shelves at the wine merchant in Clayton, Missouri, on Tuesday when he heard a customer come in.”My co-worker greeted him. He didn’t seem overly strange, maybe a little quirky, but that’s not all that unusual,” Endicott said. In surveillance video, Dustin Endicott says the man can be seen appearing to browse the wine aisles.He focused on two particular bottles — costing upwards of $200 each.He then kneels down and that’s when Endicott suspects he started loading bottles of wine into a bag he had concealed in his coat.”Pulled his bag out, put it here and grabbed the wine off the racks,” Endicott described.The thief then leaves the frame and headed for the front door.That’s when Endicott says he took notice.”The way he exited, his demeanor and the way he was acting, it was pretty clear to me that something was going on,” Endicott said.Endicott says he followed the man outside where he saw him getting into his car in the alley next door.”I kinda had the idea to stand in the middle of alley so he couldn’t get around me, but he had no intention of going around me, his intention appeared he was going to go through me, so I stepped aside and kicked his car as he went by,” Endicott explained.The wine merchant estimates the man stole more than $1,000 worth of high-end wine.Down the street, at the wine and cheese merchant, owners believe the same man targeted them a few months ago.”A customer or thief came in and kind of took advantage of the situation, by posing as a customer, filling up our bags with some very, very expensive wine, probably two or three thousand dollars at least,” said Aaron Zwicker, a worker at the wine and cheese establishment down the street.Their surveillance camera captured an image of the alleged thief, again, appearing to browse the wine aisles before grabbing 12 bottles of wine and heading for the door.Watch the video above for more on this story.
A thief with very expensive taste has been targeting St. Louis area wine shops.
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Authorities in Missouri are on the lookout now that his crimes have been caught on surveillance cameras.
Dustin Endicott was busy stocking shelves at the wine merchant in Clayton, Missouri, on Tuesday when he heard a customer come in.
“My co-worker greeted him. He didn’t seem overly strange, maybe a little quirky, but that’s not all that unusual,” Endicott said.
In surveillance video, Dustin Endicott says the man can be seen appearing to browse the wine aisles.
He focused on two particular bottles — costing upwards of $200 each.
He then kneels down and that’s when Endicott suspects he started loading bottles of wine into a bag he had concealed in his coat.
“Pulled his bag out, put it here and grabbed the wine off the racks,” Endicott described.
The thief then leaves the frame and headed for the front door.
That’s when Endicott says he took notice.
“The way he exited, his demeanor and the way he was acting, it was pretty clear to me that something was going on,” Endicott said.
Endicott says he followed the man outside where he saw him getting into his car in the alley next door.
“I kinda had the idea to stand in the middle of alley so he couldn’t get around me, but he had no intention of going around me, his intention appeared he was going to go through me, so I stepped aside and kicked his car as he went by,” Endicott explained.
The wine merchant estimates the man stole more than $1,000 worth of high-end wine.
Down the street, at the wine and cheese merchant, owners believe the same man targeted them a few months ago.
“A customer or thief came in and kind of took advantage of the situation, by posing as a customer, filling up our bags with some very, very expensive wine, probably two or three thousand dollars at least,” said Aaron Zwicker, a worker at the wine and cheese establishment down the street.
Their surveillance camera captured an image of the alleged thief, again, appearing to browse the wine aisles before grabbing 12 bottles of wine and heading for the door.
Watch the video above for more on this story.
