$30K in liquor stolen from Memphis store in 6 minutes, owner says

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — For the second time in six months, the owner of a local liquor store is out thousands after thieves smashed their way into the store and took off with cases of stolen alcohol.

The owner of the Stellar Cellar Wine & Spirits in Cordova told FOX13 that thieves took $16,000 from his store just five months ago.

Now, cases totaling $30,000 in liquor are gone after thieves used a sledgehammer to force their way in, loaded the cases into their Infinitis and took off.


After smashing their way in, one of the eight or nine burglars punched a hole through a glass case to unlock the ill-gotten bottles.

The owner of the store believes the burglars were familiar with the business’s layout and knew exactly where they were going.

“That’s the only thing I can think of. We thought that the last time, with them knowing where our higher-end things were, coming straight to the back of the register,” the owner said.

There’s been a string of liquor store burglaries in Memphis as of late. Owners and police believe it’s the same group of men stealing the drinks from all of them.

Memphis Police said a group of men in Infinitis, at least one of them stolen, tried to break into a liquor store on Getwell around 1:30 a.m. on Monday, October 24.

RELATED: Burglar in stolen Infiniti uses sledgehammer to try and break into liquor store, police say

Much like with the Cordova burglary, those men also used a sledgehammer to try and force entry into the store, police said.

Less than a month before, three men were charged for burglarizing Buster’s Wine and Liquor store on Highland Street.

RELATED: 3 men charged in burglary at Buster’s liquor store, police say

A black Infiniti was also used in that burglar and, prior to that break-in, nearly 40 other liquor store burglaries with the same suspect and vehicle description had been reported, according to an arrest affidavit for one of the men in that case.

In the six minutes the thieves spent inside of the Stellar Cellar Wine & Spirits, the owner believes a total of $50,000 worth of damage was done, the owner of the store told FOX13.