A suspected robber with a taste for fine wine who was wanted in Connecticut, New York and New Jersey was taken into police custody in Rhode Island on unrelated charges, according to Groton Police.
Groton police got involved in the case on Oct. 19 when staff from the Octagon Restaurant at the Mystic Marriott reported that a man made arrangements to meet with the manager under the guise of planning a formal dinner party there, then stole a $4,800 bottle of 1990 Chateau Petrus while he was alone in a dining room near a wine room.
As Groton police investigated this case, they learned of similar incidents in New York and New Jersey, as well as in Connecticut, and identified 25-year-old Scott DeLuca, with a last-known address in Cohoes, New York, as a suspect. On Oct. 22, they obtained an arrest warrant for him.
On Thursday, there was a break in the case when police in Smithfield, Rhode Island took DeLuca into custody on unrelated charges, according to Groton police.
Police in Smithfield have charged him as a fugitive from justice and Groton police are working to extradite him. It's not clear what other charges have been filed against him.
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As Groton police were investigating, they reached out to police in Bloomfield because they believed Deluca might have stolen from a liquor store there in August.
According to Bloomfield police, a man stole from Gillette Ridge Wines twice in just a few days and got away with $1,000 in wine.I.
