Jose Pina
Jose Pina
(Image credit: Credit Unknown)

A 31-year-old warehouse worker suspected of stealing more than $400,000-worth of California wine has been arrested and charged by police.

A cache of 350 cases of wine, with an estimated market value of at least $400,000, was last week reported stolen from a wine storage warehouse in American Canyon, Napa County.

Police suspected an inside job after finding no signs of a break-in and, on Tuesday this week, 31-year-old warehouse employee Jose Pina (pictured) was arrested while at work, American Canyon’s chief of police, Tracey Stuart, confirmed to Decanter.com.

While searching Pina’s apartment, at the 1500 block of Alamo Drive in Vacaville, detectives ‘found stolen wine in addition to $73,150 in cash, believed to be proceeds from black market wine sales’, Stuart said in a statement.

Fifty-five cases of the stolen wine had already been recovered from a barn in the Green Valley area of Solano County. The identity of the wines is not known.

Pina has been charged with grand theft, possession of stolen property and burglarly. The investigation is ongoing.

Written by Chris Mercer

Chris Mercer
Chris Mercer

Chris Mercer is a Bristol-based freelance editor and journalist who spent nearly four years as digital editor of Decanter.com, having previously been Decanter’s news editor across online and print.

He has written about, and reported on, the wine and food sectors for more than 10 years for both consumer and trade media.

Chris first became interested in the wine world while living in Languedoc-Roussillon after completing a journalism Masters in the UK. These days, his love of wine commonly tests his budgeting skills.

Beyond wine, Chris also has an MSc in food policy and has a particular interest in sustainability issues. He has also been a food judge at the UK’s Great Taste Awards.