SLO wine thief nabs $1,400 bottle but gets caught

December 5, 2014

A former employee of a downtown San Luis Obispo restaurant allegedly stole about $3,200 worth of high-end wine from the bistro for which he used to work. [Tribune]

Matthew Paul Nocas is accused of breaking into the bistro at the Granada Hotel on Morro Street and stealing four bottles of pricey wine, including one worth $1,400. Nocas previously held the duty of ordering wine for the restaurant.

On Monday, San Luis Obispo police received a report of the theft, which allegedly occurred in the early morning about a week prior. Bicycle officer Caleb Kemp responded to the restaurant and reviewed surveillance footage, which showed Nocas forcing his way into the bistro from the adjacent hotel and making three trips to the wine cellar.

Kemp and other officers obtained a warrant and searched Nocas’s San Luis Obispo home. They found the four bottles unopened in a mini-refrigerator in the garage.

The $1,400 bottle was a 2008 Domanie Romanee-Conti, Romanee St. Vivant pinot noir. Police also found a 2008 Cote Rotie “La Mouline” French syrah worth $450, a Spanish 1980 Vina Tondonia Gran Reserva Tempranillo worth $310, and a 2008 Muga Rioja worth $118.

Officers arrested Nocas on Tuesday for commercial burglary and booked him in San Luis Obispo County Jail.