FILM ROBBERY IN AMERICA: A Serb stole wines worth 38,000 dollars, then fled to Vienna! (VIDEO)

Serbian citizen Nikola Krndija (57) is the main suspect in the theft of six bottles of rare French wine in Virginia, the value of which is estimated at 38,000 dollars. After the robbery, he managed to escape on a flight to Vienna, while his accomplice, 56-year-old British woman Natalie Ray, was arrested and is in custody.

American police suspect that this duo is behind a series of similar thefts of expensive wines across the country, writes the Washington Post.

The incident occurred on November 19 in the late afternoon at the famous restaurant L’Auberge Provençale in the wine region of the Shenandoah Valley. Surveillance cameras recorded Natalie Ray, posing as Stephanie Jacobs, approaching staff with a story that she is a personal assistant to the director of a Canadian company and is looking for a location to organize a gala dinner.

Her companion, a slender man with graying hair in a long coat, was Krndija.

After she asked to see the wine cellar, sommelier Christian Borel led them through the collection. While Ray talked with Borel, Krndija unnoticed hid six bottles of pinot noir in his coat, one of which is worth as much as 24,000 dollars.

Borel became suspicious only when they returned upstairs, which triggered a dramatic sequence of events. Realizing what had happened, he shouted: “Stop them! They are stealing Romanée-Conti!”

Escape to Vienna and arrest in the parking lot

Krndija, while the bottles clinked, ran outside and fled in a rented SUV. His partner was not as fast – a waiter held her until the arrival of the police.

Ray was charged with conspiracy to commit grand larceny, grand larceny, and fraud, and she is scheduled to appear in court again on February 11. It took investigators some time to identify her partner.

The sheriff of Clarke County, Travis Sumption, stated that after the theft, Krndija drove north and the next day boarded a flight to Vienna from New York’s JFK airport.

“Authorities continue efforts to determine his current whereabouts,” Sumption said, adding that Interpol has also been informed about everything. The restaurant owner Borel recognized Krndija from a photograph the police showed him.

“Just add a small beard and a toupee, and that’s him,” he said, expressing doubt that he would ever see the stolen wine again, given that Krndija fled to an international hub like Vienna.

A network of thefts across America?

Clarke County prosecutor Matthew Bass is convinced that this was not their first such venture.

He added that there are “multiple, active investigations of thefts of expensive wines across the country in which Ray and Krndija are possible suspects.”

The case in Virginia is also linked to the theft of wine worth 30,000 dollars from a luxury wine shop in Delray Beach, Florida, almost two years ago.

Florida police confirmed that Ray became a “person of interest” in their investigation. Wine experts say that such robberies are becoming increasingly common.

“We will see more of this, not less,” warned Maureen Downey, a specialist in wine fraud.

As reasons, she cites the growing black market, the fact that restaurants publish their wine lists online without adequate security, as well as the easy portability of bottles. Michael Egan, an expert in authenticating wine collections, adds:

“The value of wine from top vineyards has grown so much that it encourages these thefts.”

Who are the suspects and where is the wine?

Natalie Ray, who is currently in custody without the possibility of bail, describes herself as a writer and poet who deals with literary translation from Serbian to English.

It is stated that she is an “educational expert with a master’s degree focused on creative writing,” as well as that she is “skilled in management and leadership.”

The fate of the stolen wine is unknown. Experts speculate that the duo may have already had a buyer in the USA or abroad.

“A bottle can change hands four times without anyone asking questions and with everyone taking their cut,” Downey explained.

Prosecutor Bass praised the reaction of the local community.

“One of many great things in Clarke County is that when someone yells ‘Stop, thief!’, everyone nearby reacts immediately. These two suspects targeted the wrong county,” he concluded.