A Scottish celebrity restaurateur has been targeted by a professional crime gang, who made off with his Rolls Royce and Ferrari supercars.
Domenico Crolla’s Glasgow mansion was ransacked one day after he headed off to New York and Las Vegas on a business trip with wife Jenny.
The owner of Glasgow’s Oro restaurant told the Record he was shocked at the crime, which involved raiders going through his home to find keys and spare keys for the prestigious cars, worth more than £300,000.
Domenico also suspects the criminals have stolen his collection of prestigious watches, built over many years, which was contained in a cabinet at his home in Glasgow’s south side.
The cars taken were a white Rolls Royce Wraith, worth £350,000 new and a rare 2011 Ferrari 612 Scaglietti, which is worth more than £100,000. The Ferrari has since been found by police but the Rolls Royce is still missing.
Domenico, 57, told how he became aware of the theft after an alarm was sounded by the Rolls Royce security app on his mobile.
He said: “We left Glasgow for New York on Monday and the raid took place on Tuesday so it looks like it is a professional job.
“The people responsible may have been aware of my engagements in the States and it looks like they knew exactly what they were after.
“I was notified that the tracker device had been taken from the car and we then used the phone to look at live pictures from our home - which showed the cars were missing.
“We won’t know the extent of what was stolen until we return but the place has been ransacked and we believe it is in a mess.”
Domenico suspects that cars may have been loaded onto a transported , which may have been reversed through automated security gates at his home.
The businessman is in New York this week for consultancy talks with famous American entrepreneur and hotelier Ian Schrager.
He and Jenny then head to Las Vegas for the Annual International Pizza Expo, which attracts experts and restaurant owners from all over the world.
He said: “We have been very shaken up by this but cars are material things and can be replaced and that is why we pay insurance.
“It’s pretty unpleasant to think that we have been targeted, that people have been going through our private possessions, but we would be far more concerned if we got a call to say one of our family had been hurt, so we are grateful for that.
“We will not be cutting our trip short.
“Our sons will do what needs to be done with examining the house and making the place secure and we will be considering what extra security we might need going forward.”
Domenico is famous for his pizza artistry, creating celebrity portraits from his round creations.
In 2019 he crafted a pizza depicting a footballing superstar making a cheesy pose.
His other famous subjects include the Queen, the Pope, the Duchess of Cambridge, Simon Cowell, Ant and Dec, Alan Sugar, Lorraine Kelly and Jonathan Ross.
His restaurant Oro, in Shawlands, Glasgow, was in 2018 named one of the 70 best pizza joints in the world by the Italian Government.
The businessman’s pizzas won such fame that he was commissioned to make an 800-mile round trip to deliver pizza for stars of The Apprentice.
Domenico was flown from Glasgow to London, put up in a plush hotel and paid a fee so contestants could sample dishes featuring face portraits.
The Rolls Royce Wraith is billed as “the most powerful and dynamic Rolls-Royce in history”. It has a turbocharged 6.6-litre V12 engine, with 624 horsepower.
It has opulent leather seating and lambs’ wool floor mats.
The Ferrari 612 Scaglietti is a renowned supercar, of which only 3,000 were produced worldwide.
It can reach a top speed of 200mph and gets to 62mph in four seconds.
Police Scotland say the Ferrari was found on Wednesday afternoon in Edinburgh and are appealing for information on the both thefts from Merrylee Road, Glasgow, on Tuesday.
The thefts took place shortly after 8.30pm and the cars are believed to have been driven away from the property at around 8.45pm.
Detective Inspector Gary Cassidy from Helen Street Police Station said: “Our investigation into the break-in on Tuesday evening is continuing to establish more details on the circumstances and trace those involved.
“Two cars were stolen from the property, a white Rolls Royce Wraith and a black Ferrari Scaglietti. The Ferrari was traced on Wednesday afternoon in the Edinburgh area.
“We know that both cars were seen on the M8 from Glasgow heading to Edinburgh around 9pm on Tuesday evening and I would urge anyone who saw either of these vehicles on Tuesday evening or since then to contact us.
“If you have any information on this break-in or theft, please contact officers on 101, quoting reference number 3955 of 21 March 2023. Alternatively, Crimestoppers can be contacted on 0800 555 111 where anonymity can be maintained.”
