Gavin Newsom’s Signed Legislation Didn’t Stop Vandals From Breaking In His San Fran Wine Shop For The 4th Time

 Police arrived to a burglar alarm blaring at a wine store he owns in San Francisco’s Cow Hollow area less than a week after Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom signed laws aimed at reducing retail theft by organized shoplifting rings.

“Thieves struck a San Francisco outpost of PlumpJack Wine & Spirits on Tuesday, the latest in a string of break-ins at the wine company founded by Gov. Gavin Newsom,” according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

Officers responded to the site about 6:40 a.m., according to a spokesperson for the San Francisco Police Department, and found a shattered storefront window but no suspects inside the business. No arrests have been made as of Tuesday evening.

“Over the past year during the shelter-in-place, this store location has experienced several attempted break-ins, similar to many of the other businesses in the area and across the city,” said Joe Arellano, a spokesman for the PlumpJack Group.

Officials told The Chronicle that they had responded to at least three prior burglaries at the business this year. During each instance, vandals smashed the store’s windows.

The governor’s sister, Hilary Newsom, is now co-president of the PlumpJack Group. Wineries, bars, restaurants, and a boutique hotel are among the assets managed by the hospitality management business.

The Chronicle provides further details:

“Newsom opened the Fillmore Street wine shop in 1992 with seed money from billionaire oil heir and family friend, Gordon Getty.”

“When he became mayor in 2004, Newsom sold his share of the businesses he owned back to Getty for $1.7 million, but kept control of the assets outside the city. He bought his share of the company back from Getty after he was elected lieutenant governor in 2010.”

“As governor, Newsom placed his wine and hospitality companies in a blind trust run by a family friend. Newsom and his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, have earned millions from their stakes in the companies in recent years, according to their tax returns.”

The ABC7 I-Team of KGO News examined data supplied by the Small Business Administration in December and discovered “at least nine companies affiliated with the PlumpJack Groups” acquired COVID-19 relief loans designed to keep workers employed amid the pandemic-induced slump. The funds, which allegedly totaled almost three million dollars, came from the federal Paycheck Protection Programs.

The PlumpJack winery in Napa was linked to a business named Villa Encinal Partners Limited Partnership, according to ABC7. It provided data showing that the company got a $918,720 PPP loan last year to employ 14 workers.