(Newser)
– The owner of the Relais Château hotel in the French region of Burgundy has many reasons to complain: the basement of the five-star hotel has been attacked twice in recent days, guardian reports, thieves escaping with a total of nearly $ 700,000 in fine wines. The latest robbery, which took place early on Tuesday, led to a car chase during which thieves began throwing bottles of stolen wine in pursuit of police. The bottles failed, authorities say, and no one was injured. After the escape van crashed into a barrier about 20 miles north of Lyon, burglars in Burgundy allegedly fled on foot. An investigation is underway and police are looking for at least three suspects.
In the burglary on Tuesday, an alarm alerted the hotel owner about the ongoing theft. He jumped into his vehicle and chased the thieves as he called the police for rescue. Just 24 hours earlier, thieves broke into the same undetected cellar. Police are investigating whether the incidents are related. Alcohol theft is not uncommon in France: last month, Bordeaux authorities arrested 25 people who they say were part of a ring that stole and sold fine wines and whiskeys, on Wine Spectator. In this case, known as Operation Magnum, police recovered 900 bottles of wine worth $ 6 million. Food and wine reports, in what they called the “capture of the century.” (Read more crime stories.)