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A British holidaymaker has been arrested within the US after allegedly posing as an event planner to steal £30,000 price of wine from a elaborate restaurant.
Mother-of-three Natali Ray has been charged with grand larceny and other offences after several bottles of nice wine went missing from the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti estate in Boyce, Virginia, earlier this month.
Ray, from Herne Bay, Kent, is accused of posing because the assistant to a wealthy wine connoisseur to distract the cellar’s wine waiter.
While the sommelier was distracted, an accomplice is alleged to have put six bottles of wine into specially-adapted pockets in his overcoat.
CCTV obtained by the Day by day Mail shows 56-year-old Ray visiting the wine cellar, reportedly wearing a wig, a wool coat and a red silk scarf.
It’s believed this was to deliberately distract staff along with her back story a couple of possible lucrative booking.
The opposite suspect wore a gray wig, thick glasses and a protracted overcoat.
Ray allegedly told the L’Auberge Provencale receptionist that her name was ‘Stephanie Baker’ and that she was a private assistant to a Canadian businesswoman who desired to host a 25-person dinner.
To see the cellar, Ray reportedly asked to see the space to make sure it was temperature controlled.
Mr Borel, the receptionist, agreed and took the pair through the three dining rooms and into the cellar.
Once within the cellar, the person replaced the stole nice wine with bottles of low-cost substitutes, which police consider suggests the theft was rigorously planned.
Mr Borel told the Day by day Mail: ‘With the facility of suggestion she got me to maneuver across the cellar where certain countries were kept, doing so allowed the opposite man to be out of sight, just long enough to line his pockets with a lot of wine.’
After asking Mr Borel for American wines she could take an image of, the person along with her gave her a signal, the receptionist alleges.
The person apparently appeared to struggle to walk up the steps, which Mr Borel said he believes was due to bottles in his pockets.
The suspects were then chased, with considered one of the waiters grabbing Ray while the person drove away in an SUV.
A daily customer, Ryan Dotson, got into his $200,000 Porsche Panamera and tried to chase the person with one other waiter from the restaurant.
But their chase was cut short after they were hit by one other vehicle.
Afterward, the employees found two of the stolen bottles -a 2019 Échézeaux and a 2021 Grands Échézeaux – lying on the grounds of the estate.
The six other bottles, collectively valued at around £31,500, are still missing.
Police have notified nearby auction houses in case the suspect tries to sell the wine, but they consider the bottles are long gone.
Ray reportedly told Mr Borel that she had been abducted by the person to participate within the heist.
Clarke County Sheriff Travis Sumption told the Day by day Mail that he believed the alleged crime was ‘orchestrated and planned’ but wouldn’t comment further.
In line with court records seen by the Day by day Mail, Ray has been charged with grand larceny, conspiracy to commit grand larceny and defrauding an innkeeper.
Ray is currently being held on the Northwestern Regional Adult Detention Center. She is due in court on December 3 and will resist 50 years in prison if convicted.
Get in contact with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
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