פירוש על עבודה זרה 139:10

This story, if historically accurate and if it’s not just a leniency by Rava, shows how dominant the Jews were in Pumbedita, or at least among the thieves!

Shmuel also rules that as long as we are not sure that non-Jews touched the wine, the wine is not considered yayin nesekh. The Talmud suggests that this law follows R. Eliezer and not the rabbis who would hold that he is impure even if he is not sure whether he walked in that field. In our case with the wine, it is unclear whether gentile thieves entered the house at all, for the thieves may have been Jews. This is like R. Eliezer’s rule—if we’re not sure he even entered the field, then he remains pure. The rabbis though would hold that the wine is impure.