This is the shocking moment brazen thieves broke into a secure glass vault and stole nine bottles of the world’s most expensive wines before being chased out of the store by staff.
The daring heist at an upmarket wine warehouse in Spain’s Costa Brava saw thieves steal £100,000 worth of wine in broad daylight while the store was packed with customers.
CCTV footage from the store showed two of the three men walking from different directions towards the tall glass vault, which on Sunday held only rare vintage wines.
Kneeling before the sealed door of the vault, a man is seen prying a crowbar from the waistband of an accomplice robber. The second robber pulls a high-pressure suction cup from the front of his shorts before helping open the door.
Then – as the couple pull open the glass vault door – a third thief carrying a rucksack joins them and they all start piling bottles of expensive wine into the bag.
CCTV footage from the store shows two of the three men walking from different directions towards the tall glass vault, which on Sunday holds only rare vintage wines.
A shocked sales assistant discovers the robbers before chasing them all out of the store. One can be seen vaulting across a checkout counter at a store – before fleeing – narrowly dodging another shop assistant in the process.
CCTV footage from outside the store shows the sales assistant running after the three men, who managed to flee the scene by crossing a busy street.
The video shows one thief instructing two other men to steal which of the bottles, suggesting he knows which are the rarest and most expensive bottles in the collection.
After loading £100,000 worth of bottles of wine into the rucksack, two of the robbers were seen walking slowly outside while a third knelt down to close his bag.
But at this point, a shocked sales assistant discovers the robber before chasing them all out of the store. One can be seen vaulting across a checkout counter in the store – before fleeing – dodging another shop assistant in the process.
CCTV footage from outside the store shows the sales assistant running after the three men, who manage to flee the scene by crossing a busy street.
Terrified owners of Vin’s I Liquors Can Grau store in Palafrugal on the Mediterranean Costa Brava said the loot was worth £102,255 (€120,000).
The bottles are said to cost between £850 (1,000 euros) and £25,500 (29,950 euros) each.
Shop owners told local media that the same thieves had already attempted a robbery a month earlier but were then forced to flee with their loot.
The most expensive bottle stolen was a 2008 Romani Conti valued at £25,500 and the second most valuable bottle was a 2013 vintage Romani-Conti valued at over £21,780.
The gang also took two bottles of 2015 La Tache, valued at £10,805 each, as well as a bottle of 2015 Richebourg estimated at £7,498.
Terrified owners of Vin’s I Liquors Can Grau store in Palafrugal on the Mediterranean Costa Brava said the loot was worth £102,255 (€120,000). Photo: Wine stand where robbers stole bottles of wine
Pictured: A large empty wine stand after three robbers robbed a store in Spain
Other wines stolen included a 2018 Echezeaux worth £6,400, a 2018 Romanee-Saint-Vivant worth £6,071 and a 2016 Petrus worth £4,857. They stole a 2010 Chateau Margaux worth £1,004.
Store co-owner Jordi Grau, 46, said: ‘We have fine wines enclosed in a showcase.
‘They opened the showcase, forced the bolt, and with a suction cup, opened the door, and from there they took the high quality bottles.’
Grau added: ‘They had a backpack and they put them in the backpack, they were surprised and they ran after them, they were ready and they ran a lot.
‘We tried to stop them, they jumped over the counter and there was a car waiting for them in a car park next door.’
‘The shop was open to the public, there were more people and it was about twelve and it was open at the busiest time of the day,’ Grau added while praising his staff for their bravery in chasing the robbers.
Speaking about the thieves’ earlier attempts to steal from the shop, he said: ‘They tried to open the showcase which has now been smashed, but they failed and they opened another next to it, which contained equally fine wines. , but cheaper than the ones taken now.
‘They tried to take 12 or 13 bottles, but were spotted and left with the loot before fleeing.
‘As a result, we are looking for ways to improve our security, but we don’t have time to implement them.
‘This week they were going to set up acoustic alarms. It seemed they knew.’
He added that he expected the bottles to end up on the black market and that the robbery might have taken place.
Police are investigating the theft – which saw a thief drop his mobile phone during his escape – but no arrests have yet been made.