This Illinois grad student must really like to drink because he was a chronic wine thief before getting busted.

According to patch.com, 

Illinois Grad Student Arrested For Stealing Wine

This graduate student from Northwestern University in Evanston must really like to get drunk on fine wine because he got arrested for stealing many bottles of booze over several weeks. The sad thing is he's certainly smart enough to know better because if he was dumb, there would be no way he could attend that school.

RELATED: Serial Liquor Thief Finally Arrested In Illinois

Harris Mercer is in the English department and trying to get into the doctorate program at NU. When he's not studying or attending class at the university, he frequently makes stops at the local liquor store (Binny's Beverage Depot). Apparently, he's a big fan of drinking wine. Since he's a student, I'm sure cash is a little tight and wine can get a little expensive. He thought he discovered a way to get around the whole having to buy it with money thing. He started stealing it.

RELATED: Cubs Fan Pretends To Be Grocery Store Worker To Steal Booze

The suspect would go into the liquor store and tuck a couple of bottles under his coat. The thief would then purchase a couple of bottles to shake off the suspicion. The police were able to track him down because Mercer used his ID, Binny's card, and credit card to purchase the wine. So this guy was smart and dumb at the same time which is hard to do.

RELATED: Drunk Illinois Man Arrested Twice On Same Day Trying To Steal From Same Store

The stats of the wine thief. They're pretty impressive.

  • 56 total bottles stolen
  • Thefts happened over 6 weeks
  • Caught on video 51 times
  • 10 times not captured on security cameras
  • Value of stolen wine is $2,700
  •  Average cost is $69 per bottle

The Most Bizarre Items Ever Stolen From Illinois Residents

My mom once told me that "people will steal anything that's not nailed down." Times certainly have changed since then. The thieves now have nail removers.

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