(Newser)
– The owner of the Relais Château hotel in the Burgundy region of France has many reasons to complain: the cellar of the five-star hotel has been invaded twice in the past few days, Guardian reports, with thieves escaping with a total of almost $ 700,000 in fine wines. The latest robbery, which took place on Tuesday, led to a car chase during which the thieves started throwing stolen wine bottles at the police chasing them. The bottles were lost, officials say, and no one was hurt. After the escape van hit a barrier about 20 miles north of Lyon, the Burgundian thieves reportedly fled on foot. An investigation is underway and the police are looking for at least three suspects.
In Tuesday’s theft, an alarm alerted the hotel owner about the ongoing theft. He jumped in his vehicle and chased the thieves while calling the police for backup. Just 24 hours earlier, thieves broke into the same basement without being detected. The police are investigating whether the incidents are related. Drink theft is not uncommon in France: last month, authorities in Bordeaux arrested 25 people who say they are part of a gang that steals and sells fine wines and whiskeys, for Wine Spectator. In this case, known as Operation Magnum, the police recovered 900 bottles of wine worth $ 6 million, Food and Wine reports, in what they called “apprehension of the century”. (Read more crime stories.)