WOODINVILLE, Wash. — A suspect has been arrested in connection to vandalism at a Woodinville winery where thousands of gallons of product were drained onto the floor.
On Nov. 22, 2023, not long after employees had left for the Thanksgiving holiday, a masked person entered Sparkman Cellars' barrel room and production facility through an employee entrance. Sparkman shared an exclusive surveillance video with KING 5 shortly after the theft that showed the suspect sneaking in.
Moments after the suspect can be seen entering the barrel room, a gush of white wine can be seen spilling out of a steel tank where the wine was waiting to be bottled. Even as alarms sound throughout the building, two 2,500-gallon tanks of white wine are unloaded onto the floor of the winery.
The King County Sheriff's Office (KCSO) said in a release that the amount of product lost equated to roughly 24,000 bottles of wine and would have been worth an estimated $600,000.
The suspect arrested is a man in his 60s who lives in Seattle and is a former employee of Sparkman Cellars. KCSO said it obtained an arrest warrant on suspicion of burglary in the second degree and a search warrant for his residence and took him into custody on Wednesday.
The suspect was processed at King County Jail and released., KCSO said.
“Woodinville is wine country; I’m glad that Woodinville PD was able to help Sparkman Cellars after this incredible loss. Our investigators took this seriously and turned over every bit of evidence possible in order to identify and apprehend this person,” said Woodinville Police Department Chief BJ Myers.