Robbery crew in California nets $90K from stolen lotto scratchers

A four-person robbery crew that targeted 7-Eleven stores across Los Angeles County collected more than $90,000 from stolen lottery scratchers, authorities announced Tuesday.

Detectives with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Major Crimes Bureau say the crew was responsible for some 44 strong-arm robberies, which resulted in retail losses of $250,000 over a two-month span.

While the suspects were under surveillance, detectives observed them robbing one of the 7-Eleven stores.

“The suspects jumped the counter and forcibly stole over $3,000 worth of California Lottery Scratchers,” an LASD news release stated.

All four of the suspects, three adults and one juvenile, were quickly arrested and the stolen scratchers were recovered.

The three adult suspects, whose identities were not released, were booked on robbery charges at the Century Regional Detention Facility, where each one of them was being held on $100,000 bail. The juvenile was booked at Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall on robbery charges.

LASD’s Major Crimes Bureau’s Burglary-Robbery Task Force works with the Los Angeles Police Department and other participating law enforcement throughout L.A. County in the recently formed Organized Retail Theft Task Force.

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“The planning, execution, and intelligence gathered from operations like this are shared and expanded upon throughout the law enforcement community in our region to better combat the plague of retail theft affecting the community,” the release noted.

Residents and business owners are encouraged to be aware of suspicious and unusual activity and immediately report any issues to local law enforcement.

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