underFire Seeks the Public's Help in Identifying Alleged Liquor Thief

A new restaurant in Back Bay has been burglarized three times in the past month, and management at underFire is looking for help in identifying a suspect.

Fire + Ice Boston, Providence, and underFire's director of operations Rafael Barbosa said someone has stolen about $1,000 in liquor from behind the subterranean bar, and the man pictured in the security footage above is the prime suspect. underFire's security cameras have caught glimpses of the man on two separate occasions, and two of his employees have had suspicious encounters with a man with a similar physical description in recent weeks, Barbosa said.

Barbosa believes the thief is entering underFire behind vendors arriving early in the morning to deliver goods, then hiding in the basement bar until the vendors head upstairs to Fire + Ice. Then, he sneaks out of hiding and fills garbage bags with as much liquor as he can carry.

"He goes for the good stuff. He's stolen two bottles of 15-year-old scotches, Macallan 15; a couple of Stoli Elit, many bottles of Patron, Grey Goose," Barbosa said.

In one security tape, the man is shown filling a garbage bag with liquor, leaving for a few minutes, and then returning and filling another bag.

On Monday this week, an underFire manager arrived early in the morning and saw a man in a backwards hat peering into the restaurant's window. The manager made eye contact with the man, who nods, and then leaves. Building security footage corroborates this suspicious activity.

Another employee actually saw someone in a backwards hat behind the bar one early morning. When the employee asked what the man was doing, he said he was fixing a leak. "Obviously, we have people fixing things in here all the time, and we hadn't alerted the staff yet [about the alleged crimes]," Barbosa said.

He said the company has put some new systems in place in response to these early-morning crimes.

After each theft, Barbosa's team has filed a police report, he said, but law enforcement can't do much. "Law enforcement has been very supportive, but they have bigger fish to fry. But $1,000 is a big amount of money [for us]," he said. "[Police have] done all they can. They say if we see the guy, call 911 immediately."

Barbosa is hoping sharing the security image will help identify the suspect. If you recognize this person or have other information to share, call underFire at 617-482-3473 and ask for a manager.