Famed surf artist Rick Griffin’s work featured in San Clemente

• July 7, 2023

Rick Griffin’s prolific art career started in the classroom and the Palos Verdes High School student’s surf-inspired doodles selling for 50 cents a pop.

As a kid growing up in Lakewood, Griffin was enthralled with reading, collecting comic books and Disney animation. But in 1958, when his family moved to Palos Verdes, Griffin’s newfound love for surf at age 14 began inspiring his art – decorating schoolmate’s notebook covers and T-shirts.

Griffin would become one of surf culture’s early-era influencers, bringing a playful comic – and later a color-popping psychedelic – style that was showcased in Surfer Magazine as the growing culture boomed.

Now, his work is being showcased at the Surfing Heritage and Culture Center in San Clemente, which is hosting a retrospective of the artist’s life work with a panel on Saturday, July 8, that will discuss his influence in the surf world and beyond.

“He definitely is the most foremost surf artist, ever,” said Barry Haun, curator and creative director for SHACC.

While in the South Bay, Griffin was part of the Haggerty’s Surfing Club, which sponsored surf movies by filmmaker Bud Browne. He was introduced to Greg Noll, a big-wave surfer who also shaped surfboards and had a surf shop in Hermosa Beach. Griffin drew cartoon images on the walls of the shop, according to SHACC.

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After a showing of “Surf Fever” at his high school, Griffin met John Severson, the producer of the film who was also the publisher and owner of the newly created Surfer Magazine.

Severson liked Griffin’s cartoon drawings and hired him to illustrate a comic strip in the magazine. The main character was a blond-haired little surfer called “Murphy,” Haun said. Skateboarding was also catching on at the time, and Griffin often added the counter-culture sport into his comic strips.

“He was just so amazingly talented,” Haun said. “There isn’t a surf artist that hasn’t been influenced by Rick. We all emulated his waves when we would draw. I can’t state enough how amazing and what an influence he was.”

Griffin enrolled at the Chouinard Art Institute and his psychedelic posters caught on. He also created the original logo for Rolling Stone magazine, according to SHACC.

He would go on to created rock concert posters for artists such as the Grateful Dead, Jimmy Hendrix, Janice Joplin, Neil Young and Linda Ronstadt.

But his passion for the surf world never faded. In 1969, Griffin produced artwork for the film “Pacific Vibrations,” and in 1972  for the “Five Summer Stories” and in 1983 for “Blazing Boards.”

Griffin moved to San Clemente, where he delved into a newfound passion for Christianity and his artwork often reflected his religious views, according to SHACC.

In the mid-1970s Griffin began working with Calvary Chapel and its music company, Maranatha Music, to do artwork for the up-and-coming alternative Christian rock bands.

In 1976, Griffin had his first and only retrospective show while he was alive, drawing thousands of people who wanted to see his work.

Griffin died in a motorcycle accident in 1991 at age 47.

Six years later, in 1997, he was inducted posthumously into the Huntington Beach Surfing Walk of Fame.

The “Griffin Aquatic Ascendance” exhibit currently on display at SHACC has never-before-seen original artwork, as well as the iconic “Virgin of Malibu,” “Pacific Vibrations” and “Pipeline” paintings.

There’s also a rotation of art that Griffin created for Surfer Magazine, advertisements he made for Noll and seven wall panels he painted while still in high school.

John Van Hamersveld, also a well-known artist who created the iconic “Endless Summer” poster, will talk during Saturday’s panel about the early years when both men were helping to create art elements for Surfer Magazine.

Also speaking about the artist’s life will be wife Ida and daughter Flaven, as well as notable Griffin scholars, including Steve Barilotti, Jim Evans, Gordon McClelland, Dave Tourje and Gary Wong.

The event will take place from 2 to 5 p.m. on Saturday; tickets will be $20 for members and $25 for non-members. More info: shacc.org

​ Orange County Register 

Horse racing notes: Bob Baffert seeks 7th consecutive Los Alamitos Derby win

• July 7, 2023

LOS ALAMITOS LEADERS

(Through Thursday)

JOCKEYS / WINS

Ramon Vazquez / 9

Abel Cedillo / 7

Antonio Fresu / 5

Tiago Pereira / 5

Four tied / 4

TRAINERS / WINS

Peter Miller / 4

Milton Pineda / 4

Jesus Uranga / 4

Four tied / 3

WEEKEND STAKES AT LOS ALAMITOS

Saturday

• $125,000 Los Alamitos Derby, 3-year-olds, 1-1/8 miles

DOWN THE STRETCH

• Trainer Bob Baffert, who has won the Los Alamitos Derby six consecutive years and seven of the past eight, is scheduled to saddle Reincarnate on Saturday when the race, formerly known as the Swaps Stakes when held at Hollywood Park (1974-2013), will be run for the 10th time at Los Alamitos. The 1-1/8-mile event, restricted to 3-year-olds, attracted a field of six. It will be run as the final race on a nine-race card with an approximate post time of 5:05 p.m. Skinner, scratched twice since finishing third in the Santa Anita Derby, is the likely post-time favorite. Trained by John Shirreffs, he’ll be ridden by Mike Smith.

• The California Horse Racing Board reported last week that the state experienced a decline in the number of deaths suffered from injuries during racing and training at California facilities during the 2022-23 fiscal year that ended June 30. Twenty-six horses died last year as a result of musculoskeletal injuries compared to 39 the previous year. “That’s still too many fatalities, but it shows that all of the new regulations, policies and procedures that we’ve introduced in cooperation with the industry have had a significant effect,” CHRB chairman Greg Ferraro said in a statement.

• Rombauer, trained by Southland-based Michael McCarthy when he won the 2021 Preakness and finished third in the Belmont Stakes, is back breezing at Gulfstream Park after a two-year absence and is now in the barn of Saffie Joseph Jr. “He was given time off for an issue he had,” Joseph said. “I train horses for (owner John and Diane Fradkin) and they decided to send him to me.” Joseph said Rombauer, a 5-year-old son of Twirling Candy, could return to the races in August if all goes well. “Hopefully, he stays happy and healthy and comes back to what made him what he was.”

— Art Wilson

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​ Orange County Register 

AVP’s Hermosa Beach Pro Open features competition as deep as the sand

• July 7, 2023

The AVP tour returns to Hermosa Beach this week, one of the pro beach volleyball tour’s most popular traditional stops since 1984, and several teams appear capable of emerging on top.

The 16-team Hermosa Beach Pro Open men’s and women’s brackets feature former champions, Olympic medalists and collegiate stars who are sure to be tested during the double-elimination event.

“This event has got to be my favorite. Most of us trained down in Hermosa,” said Hagen Smith, a former UCLA setter who is seeded 10th with partner Logan Webber. “Just the whole event in general is awesome. So this is a really big one for me, and I’m super excited to try and build off of what we did last year.”

Smith, who grew up in Pacific Palisades, and Webber are coming off a win at the Virginia Beach Tour Series event just a few weeks ago.

“Each time we practice, each time we get out there, each time we travel, we’re understanding each other (better) as people and as players,” Smith said. “As that keeps going, as we keep playing together, which I think we will do for a little bit, or hopefully for a while, it is just going to keep getting better and better.”

Smith is the son of volleyball legend Sinjin Smith, who won four consecutive FIVB tour titles (1989-92) with longtime partner Randy Stoklos and has 139 career pro beach wins (129 domestic). Hagen Smith said having his father at his side has been invaluable.

“For a long time, he tried to get me to play tennis and to go into that professionally and I said ‘No, Dad, I want to play volleyball like you,’” Hagen Smith said. “I have him as a resource, where I can go and tap into him and be like, ‘Hey, this is where I’m playing, what advice do you have for me?’ … And so having that wealth of knowledge is super, super helpful.”

This year’s tournament did not include a qualifying round to get into the main draw.

Tri Bourne and Chaim Schalk, who won the Pro Series event in New Orleans in April, are the top-seeded duo this week. Theo Brunner and Trevor Crabb are seeded No. 2, Taylor Crabb and T.S. Sander are seeded No. 3 and Chase Budinger and Miles Evans are seeded fourth.

The 16-team women’s bracket is just as deep, with Kelley Kolinske and partner Hailey Harward seeded No. 1. The duo just won the Denver Tour Series event, and Kolinske has had South Bay success before, winning last year’s prestigious Manhattan Beach Open alongside Sara Hughes.

The fourth-seeded duo of Lili Maestrini and Larissa Maestrini and the 12th-seeded team of Macy Jerger and Megan Rice are the only other teams in the field who have won an AVP event together. Megan Kraft and Emily Stockman are the No. 2 seed, and Deahna Kraft and Zana Muno are seeded third.

Play begins Friday at 9 a.m. at the Hermosa Beach Pier. Friday and Saturday will feature competition from 9 a.m. until approximately 5 p.m. with the men’s and women’s semifinals and championship matches scheduled for Sunday.

All main draw matches can be streamed on ESPN+ and all matches played on Courts 1 and 2 will be available on Bally Sports.

Admission is free, with premium seating available for purchase.

“Beach volleyball is such an integral part of Hermosa Beach, and we feel honored to be back competing in the heart of such a vibrant area that deeply values the sport of beach volleyball,” AVP CEO Al Lau said in a press release.

“We’re looking forward to an exciting week in the South Bay.”

The Men’s field is set for Hermosa Beach! New Orleans winners Chaim Schalk and Tri Bourne are, once again, the top-seeded team! pic.twitter.com/mOiGy0KkEt

— AVP (@avpbeach) July 6, 2023

Fresh off their win at the Denver Open, Kelley Kolinske and Hailey Harward are headlining the Women’s bracket as the number one-seeded team. This team of Pepperdine and USC alums will open the tournament by taking on a pair of crosstown rivals…. pic.twitter.com/x3eMCMlDvw

— AVP (@avpbeach) July 6, 2023

​ Orange County Register 

Employers don’t have to protect workers’ families from COVID, California high court rules

• July 7, 2023

A Bay Area woodworking employee caught COVID on the job and brought it home during the height of the pandemic. His wife contracted the illness and her symptoms were severe – at one point, she needed a respirator to breathe.

But she cannot claim workers’ compensation injuries from the infection, the California Supreme Court ruled Thursday, July 6 in answer to questions from a federal appellate court, because while doing so would be a moral good, that good is outweighed by the potential flood of litigation that would force businesses to close, tie up courts and send commercial insurance rates skyrocketing.

“Recognizing a duty of care to nonemployees in this context would impose an intolerable burden on employers and society in contravention of public policy,” associate justice Carol Corrigan wrote in the ruling. “These and other policy considerations lead us to conclude that employers do not owe a tort-based duty to nonemployees to prevent the spread of COVID-19.”

It was the second major loss for California employees seeking compensation for COVID infections passed to family members. Last year, a longtime employee of See’s Candies lost a workers’ comp claim after she contracted COVID and passed it to her husband, who died.

Workers’ comp is inherently a bargain, Corrigan wrote in a unanimous opinion: Employees get some guarantee that they’ll be paid in the event of an injury suffered on the job, no matter whether they were at fault, and employers get to limit the amount and extent of that compensation.

The question, then, is whether an employer’s duty to protect its employees from injury extends to their families. Today, the court ruled that it doesn’t. But the court left the door open to more lawsuits, ruling that workers’ spouses who contract COVID can still file negligence claims against employers.

The facts of the case are a reflection of the push-and-pull concerning COVID regulations and essential businesses during the first year of the pandemic.

There’s little doubt that Nevada-based Victory Woodworks ignored San Francisco County health ordinances that demanded that employers quarantine potentially infected employees, the court found. Robert Kuciemba was employed at a Victory Woodworks jobsite for about two months when the company transferred a group of potentially infected workers to his San Francisco job site in the summer of 2020. He worked in close proximity to them and was infected.

His wife, Corby, caught COVID from him. She was older than 65, and her condition worsened until she was put on a ventilator. The couple sued, arguing that Victory Woodworks’ negligence led to her illness.

Though the Kuciembas sued in state court, Victory Woodworks had the case moved to federal court, where it was dismissed, a win for the woodworking shop and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which filed briefs in support of its defense.

Victory Woodworks argued that a win for the Kuciembas would have consequences far beyond workplace compensation.

“There is simply no limit to how wide the net will be cast: the wife who claims her husband caught COVID-19 from the supermarket checker, the husband who claims his wife caught it while visiting an elder care home,” the company argued in a federal court brief.

On appeal, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals sent two questions to the California Supreme Court. First, whether the California Workers’ Compensation Act bars an employee’s household member’s claim against an employer, and second, whether the employer’s duty to protect its employees from COVID infections extends to the home.

During oral arguments in May, justices on the state Supreme Court voiced concerns that a workers’ comp ruling in Kuciemba’s favor would open the door to an “avalanche of litigation” against businesses.

​ Orange County Register 

Lakers officially sign guard Gabe Vincent, center Jaxson Hayes

• July 6, 2023

The Lakers made their first official free-agency moves Thursday, announcing the signings of guard Gabe Vincent and center Jaxson Hayes.

The team didn’t disclose the terms of the deals, but sources confirmed to the Southern California News Group that Vincent agreed to a three-year, $33 million contract after free agency started Friday during the moratorium period.

Hayes’ deal is for two years with a player option for the 2024-25 season, a source added, giving Hayes the option to become a free agent again next offseason.

Most free agents who agreed to deals since last week weren’t able to sign their new contracts until Thursday at 9:01 a.m. PT after the moratorium period ended.

Vincent is coming off a strong postseason with Miami during its run to the NBA Finals. The 6-foot-2, 200-pounder averaged 9.4 points while shooting 33.4% from 3-point range in 68 regular-season games, then scored 12.7 points per game and shot 37.8% from behind the arc in the postseason.

Vincent joined the Heat on a two-way contract in 2019-20 after going undrafted out of UC Santa Barbara in 2018 before he signed a standard deal for $3.48 million across two seasons with Miami in August 2021. He was a key part of the rotation the previous couple of seasons before stepping into the starting role in place of an injured Kyle Lowry in 2022-23 – a role he held onto for the final 29 regular-season games and playoffs.

The 6-foot-11 Hayes has averaged 7.5 points and 4 rebounds in 16.8 minutes (241 games) with the New Orleans Pelicans (2019-23) since being the No. 8 pick in the 2019 draft.

He’s coming off a season in which he averaged 5 points and 2.8 rebounds in 13 minutes as a reserve.

His 2023-24 salary is expected to be about $2.2 million – the veteran’s minimum for a player with his NBA experience (four seasons going into his fifth).

​ Orange County Register 

Festival Pass: All of the concerts coming to the annual OC Fair

• July 6, 2023

Festival Pass is a newsletter that lands in your inbox weekly. But during prime festival season you get bonus editions, too! Subscribe now.

Happy Thursday!

We’re in a bit of a music festival lull for the next couple of weeks as some massive tours prepare to roll through Southern California and the annual OC Fair kicks off in Costa Mesa on Friday, July 14.

Looking at the calendar, our next major music festival isn’t until Sad Summer Fest takes over FivePoint Amphitheatre in Irvine on Saturday, July 29. Reporter Charlie Vargas is lining up some interviews with a few of the artists on that lineup, so look for that in the near future.

However, there’s still plenty going on.

Speaking of the OC Fair, there’s a ton of live entertainment that comes along with all the carnival-style rides and games and insane fair food.

Reporter Holly Alvarado has roundups of the concerts coming to The Hangar inside the OC Fair and at the adjacent Pacific Amphitheatre’s Toyota Summer Concert Series. While The Hangar features mostly tribute acts, tickets start at just $20 and includes fair admission. Get the full lineup of concerts in The Hangar here.

The lineup at Pacific Amphitheatre, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, includes a wide variety of artists like Beck and Phoenix, Dwight Yoakam, Yung Gravy, Ramon Ayala, Rebelution, Cheap Trick and more. Tickets to the shows happening during the run of the OC Fair (July 14-Aug. 13) include same-day fair admission. Get the full list of concerts and post-OC Fair shows at Pacific Amphitheatre here.

The Bellwether makes its debut

Holly was able to check out a new venue opening in Downtown Los Angeles next week. The 1,600-capacity room dubbed The Bellwether will host its grand opening with synth-pop duo Phantogram on Tuesday, July 11.

The owners spoke with Holly about their plans for the new concert hall, which also boasts an impressive bar space, restaurant lounge and an open-air seating area with stunning city views. The concert lineup, so far, includes acts like Wilco, Porter Robinson, Carly Rae Jepsen, Silversun Pickups, Isaiah Rashad, Drama, Haim and more. Find out more information on The Bellwether here.

Drake Loves Hot Chicken 

Canadian rapper Drake has teamed up with 21 Savage for the massive It’s All a Blur Tour that includes stops at Kia Forum in Inglewood Aug. 12-13 and 15-16 and Cypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Aug. 21-22.

Tickets sold fast, but fans can try to score some through Dave’s Hot Chicken’s Frequent Fryer loyalty program. It seems like an odd pairing, but Drake’s an investor in the Pasadena-based chain, so the collaboration makes sense. Reporter Fielding Buck has all of the details on how fans can sign up to try to win tickets to the L.A. area shows here.

More Music News 

Beach Boys deliver Fourth of July ‘Fun, Fun, Fun’ at Hollywood Bowl 

Orange County rock band Robert Jon & The Wreck get boost from KLOS FM

Neil Young delivers a gorgeous, intimate solo show in Los Angeles 

Lyle Lovett discusses fatherhood, new music ahead of Southern California shows 

Until next week, thanks for reading and keep rockin’!

Get Festival Pass delivered to your inbox weekly.

Read previous editions of the Festival Pass newsletter

Festival Pass: Odesza, Vintage Culture and Chris Lake top Splash House’s August lineups

Festival Pass: Darker Waves Fest will bring ’80s rock to the beach

Festival Pass: Discounted Coachella 2024 tickets go on sale this week

Festival Pass: Splash House, LA Pride in the Park and more fests this weekend

Festival Pass: Top 5 summer tours coming to Southern California 

Festival Pass: Yee-haw! The BeachLife Ranch Festival dropped its lineup

​ Orange County Register 

Angels’ Jo Adell has opportunity to finally deliver on his potential

• July 6, 2023

LOS ANGELES — For the past several years, there have been two versions of Jo Adell.

There is the Jo Adell who consistently crushes monster homers in the minors, while flashing elite speed, all in the package of a chiseled 6-foot-3, 215-pound mountain of an athlete.

And there is the Jo Adell who has a career big-league average of .217 and has struck out in 35% of his plate appearances, a guy who at times seemed lost in the outfield.

Now 24 years old and in his final season in which he can be optioned to the minors, Adell is back in the majors with the Angels. Mike Trout’s injury has given him at least a month of opportunity to show the baseball world that his time is now.

Adell, however, doesn’t quite see it that way.

“To be quite honest with you, I think I’ve had enough moments now to where you could say that I’m a factor,” Adell said. “I can be in a lineup and play and help a team win. I don’t really think it’s ‘Can I be here?’ It’s not a ‘happy to be here’ thing. I’m more than ready to help and do my job.”

The proof will emerge over the next four to eight weeks, with Trout recovering from surgery to remove a fractured hamate bone.

Adell will go into the outfield mix with Taylor Ward, Mickey Moniak and Hunter Renfroe. Manager Phil Nevin said Adell will play against lefties and righties, and he’ll get time in center field and left.

So far Adell has nine plate appearances in the big leagues this season, including four last month when Renfroe was on the paternity list. Adell is 3 for 8, with a double, triple and homer. He’s struck out three times and walked once.

The homer, on June 8, was a 451-foot rocket that left his bat at 117.2 mph. That’s the hardest any Angels player – including Shohei Ohtani – has hit a ball this season.

At Triple-A this season, Adell hit 23 homers, tied with Salt Lake teammate Trey Cabbage for the most in the minor leagues. On June 20, Adell crushed a ball 514 feet, which was the longest homer recorded by StatCast at any level of professional baseball. StatCast has been tracking homers in the majors since 2015, but only since 2021 in the minors.

“I have the type of power where I don’t necessarily have to square it completely to hit it out,” Adell said. “But I squared that ball completely.”

The blast was yet another example of the kind of power that led to Adell being the 10th overall pick in the 2017 draft. By 2020, he was a consensus top five prospect throughout the sport.

But the shine began to fade once Adell reached the big leagues as a 21-year-old in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. He hit .161 with a .478 OPS, and earned a lifetime spot on blooper reels when a ball hit off his glove and went over the fence for a rare four-base error.

Ever since then, there has a been a distinct split between Adell’s potential and what he’s actually produced in the majors.

There are always supporters who insist that Adell is on the verge of “figuring it out,” and this year has been no different.

Adell arrived in spring training with significant muscle added to his frame. He had also spent just about every day of his winter working out at the Angels’ complex in Arizona, with an emphasis on his defense. He was noticeably better even last summer in the majors, and by all accounts he’s no longer a defensive liability. Nevin said he wouldn’t need to replace him for defense late in games.

“He’s proven himself as a quality major-league outfielder,” Nevin said. “I’m looking forward to seeing it.”

Adell said part of that transition has been gaining a better understanding of what plays he shouldn’t even be trying to make.

“The big thing is, knowing when the play is a routine play,” he said. “Every once in a while, there’s a time to be a hero, but for me it’s about keeping runners out of scoring position.”

There is a notion around Adell that clearing the defensive stress from his mind can help unlock some of what’s hindered him offensively. One of the issues he’s had at the plate, according to one person who has followed him closely, is trying too hard to make up for certain perceived deficiencies by hitting the ball 500 feet every time.

While Adell has hit 94 minor-league homers, leading to a career .549 slugging percentage, he’s also struck out in 26.8% of his plate appearances.

This season, Adell’s strikeout rate was exactly the same as his career rate. Adell responded to a question about strikeouts by saying that he doesn’t want to change too much of who he is with two strikes.

“When you get into two-strike counts, or down in the count or whatever it is, what I found out is if I try to over-shorten my approach, what I end up doing is I end up expanding the zone,” Adell said. “So it’s important for me to stay as aggressive as I would 0-0 in two strikes and still look for those pitches that I can drive.”

Adell added that he wants to “treat 0-2 like it’s 2-0, still looking for a pitch to handle. Obviously you’re going to have to hit some pitches and foul off some pitches you don’t want to, but I’m still looking for a pitch I could do damage on.”

That mindset is fine with Nevin.

“I still want him to take an aggressive swing, whether it’s 2-0 or 0-2, with a chance to hit the ball in the seats,” Nevin said.

The Angels and Adell seem less concerned with him striking out by taking a huge cut with two strikes as they are with him getting into those two-strike counts by swinging at pitches out of the zone. They’ll keep the strikeouts if they can add walks. Besides getting on base more, that means he’ll be swinging at better pitches, which means more damage when he does make contact.

To that end, the results over the past month have been encouraging. Adell drew 17 walks – with 17 strikeouts – over his 100 Triple-A plate appearances since June 1. It’s also worth remembering that Adell has a chance to turn any walk into a “double” with his speed.

“The walks have gone up over the past couple of weeks for me, which is something that’s been big,” Adell said. “Getting pitches that I can drive. That’s going to be something that I’m going to continue to focus on, getting that pitch and getting that ‘A’ swing off, putting the ball in the air.”

A rival scout who watched Adell this season at Triple-A said via text there are still some “major issues” recognizing and tracking offspeed pitches. He added that Adell’s power makes him “dangerous,” and that he played “good defense.”

Overall, the scout said he is firmly in the same place as just about everyone else on Adell, dazzled by the potential but apprehensive about the holes in his game.

“I’m still concerned if he will ever make the overall adjustments to be a daily impact player at the major-league level,” the scout said. “He’s the ultimate tease with risk, but one cannot ignore the potential and he’s still relevant.”

All of the ideas about what Adell can be will evolve quickly over the next month or two. Playing under the bright lights of the majors, and facing the best pitchers in the world, will provide more clarity about which Adell is the real one.

“You’re going to see a lot of Jo,” Nevin said, “and I think he’s ready for this opportunity.”

UP NEXT

Angels (RHP Griffin Canning, 6-3, 4.29) vs. Dodgers (TBD), 7:10 p.m. Friday, Dodger Stadium, Bally Sports West,  830 AM.

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​ Orange County Register 

Thief breaks into Venice wine shop through its roof and steals $500,000 worth of rare booze

• July 6, 2023

Police in Venice are investigating a theft at a high-end wine shop where, according to the store, a burglar drilled a hole into its roof, descended via rope and stole around 600 bottles of wine and liquor worth over $500,000.

After descending into the wine cellar of Lincoln Fine Wines in Venice around 12:30 a.m. Friday, the burglar – clad in a mask, black hoodie and red baseball cap – could be seen on surveillance footage covering the lens of the cellar’s security camera, according to store manager Nick Martinelle.

“It was like something out of ‘Ocean’s Eleven.’ We just couldn’t believe it,” Martinelle told CNN. The tape from the back of a “Smile: You’re on Camera” sign stuck to the cellar’s door was used to conceal the camera, he said.

During the theft, which lasted for an estimated four hours, the thief looted the wine cellar of some of the store’s rarest and most expensive wines and liquors.

The owner of the shop, Nazmul Haque, said he has been unable to sleep soundly since the incident.

Hundreds of thousands of dollars in wines and liquors were stolen from a store in Los Angeles’ Venice neighborhood Friday, the store said.(Courtesy Lincoln Fine WInes)

“It is very hard for me to digest. All my hard work snatched within a couple hours,” Haque said.

When the thief exited the wine cellar to begin stealing from the store’s main shelves at around 4 a.m., the store’s sensors alerted Haque, he says, who was at home and asleep. The burglar fled as an alarm went off.

Haque arrived at the store at 4:50 a.m. and says a shaft of early morning light streamed in from the hole in the rooftop, illuminating a scene of empty shelves and shattered glass.

“I used to always think they can break in the door and windows. Now, they come through the walls, they come through the roof,” Haque said. “You never know.”

Many of the stolen bottles are irreplaceable, according to Martinelle, including their collection of Quintarelli wines. Other pilfered bottles include The Last Drop – a rare Scotch whisky whose 1971 edition is worth $6,000 – and a bottle of Chateau Petrus 2016, which sells for as much as $4,500, according to the store.

Every bottle on the cellar’s French wall, with an average worth of $1,000 each, was taken, according to Martinelle. The store is assembling a list of missing bottles to distribute to local buyers and auction houses in hopes of narrowing down the identity of the thief or thieves.

Martinelle called the theft “creepy” in that the thief knew the location of the cellar from the roof and targeted particularly expensive wines, some of which were in drawers rather than on display. Other wine shops near Los Angeles that have experienced burglaries have reached out, he said.

“I’m still in shock and in disbelief,” Martinelle said. “It was really surreal.”

Haque describes receiving an outpouring of love and support from customers and vendors since the theft. Some customers who Haque hadn’t seen since before the Covid-19 pandemic came to visit this week, buying “three or four bottles more” than they normally would, he said.

“They’re here to support me. That’s a very strong message to me,” Haque said. “That helped me a lot to recover from the emotional stress.”

The incident is under investigation, Los Angeles police told CNN.

​ Orange County Register