By Kate Northrop
GEORGETOWN, Tx. — A thief who stole two whole bins of Texas Lottery scratch-off tickets from a gas station has been caught by police after he attempted to cash in a prize.
On July 19 at 3:00 am, surveillance cameras captured the moment Kendall Hayes, 27, broke into the Copper Ridge Market on TX-29 in Georgetown. A man identified as Hayes pulled up to the convenience store in his car and smashed an object through the glass door. He then snatched two bins of scratch-off lottery tickets and drove off in his vehicle.
That same day, he attempted to cash in one of the stolen tickets for a $200 prize at the Berry Creek Food Mart on TX-195, but then later went to the Jiffy Mart on Luther Drive to cash it in.
Hayes was identified as the man in the video surveillance by an investigator from the Burnet sheriff's office with the help of some tips, along with other recordings of Hayes entering various convenience stores he had also visited. It also helped that he had recognizable tattoos and public information on social media accounts.
Williamson County police also collaborated with the Burnet County sheriff's office after he had apparently tried to cash tickets in Burnet County from the same batch of tickets he stole from the gas station in Georgetown.
On Monday, Hayes was charged with claiming a lottery ticket prize by fraud, which is a third-degree felony that could land someone in prison for a maximum of 10 years. He was booked into Williamson County Jail and was released the next day after posting bail set at $7,500.
Public records from Williamson and Burnet County also show that Hayes has committed various criminal acts in the past, with his earliest recorded offenses dating back to 2011. He has previously been charged with criminal mischief, possession of marijuana and other controlled substances, and failing to appear for court in addition to fraudulently claiming a lottery ticket prize.
The guy stole scratchers - does he know realize they can be tracked?
haha
glad they got him
lock him up - surprised he didn't get someone else to try and cash them
for a possible 10 year bid how is the bail only 7500?
Some folk may say Hayes is a complete idiot, and rightly so, but even so called intelligent people can be included in that mix. Take Tennessee Trauma Surgeon Sethi, running for the open Senate seat, this character said to voters about Dr Fauci" l have had enough of this guy." Saying that of America's leading infectious specialist somehow means the voters ought to go with this guy, Mr tough stuff & they have to take this guy serious. It's obvious this loon went to medical school, but anything to get votes or in Hayes case- scratchers.
Tickets in the bin are already activated within the lottery system, and they know which stores have the jackpot tickets. The tickets if stolen, they are flagged within the system, and the person cashing them is arrested. Their face, vehicle, and license plate number is on video surveillance. The lottery has people who look at the store's video surveillance as required.
he will make the dumb crook news on someone's channel soon I'm sure
In the good old days restitution was part of the punishment. Repair the damage to the breaking and entering. Was it worth a lousy win? We may never know what happened to him unless Todd finds out!
Incorrect on all counts. The lottery knows what tickets have been sent to various retailers, but they DO NOT know what prizes are on those tickets. Further, while a good many stores do have inside surveillance systems, almost none have cameras outside to record vehicles or activity.
This suspect is 27 years old. With modern medicine achieving miracles life spans have reached into the hundred's of years. 100, 101, etc. This guy has plenty of time to correct course and fly right. I hope he can break his habits. Why waste prime living time in prison. Be free!
I see you recently joined so you must not be familiar with what happened in Indiana. A lottery security worker in Indiana told his friend where a $1,000,000 winning scratch ticket was sent and the friend went to that store and bought the whole pack of tickets and won the $1,000,000. Nobody would have known but there was an argument on the splitting.
If you search the LP news you will find that story several years back.
The Butt Plug not only ripped off the store but he ripped off the players that would have won those prizes...what a pig!
Well Think, let's cross your response with the other news story of NC's Kevin Clarke winning $5mil in his treasure hunt for that last elusive scratcher. According to some here, it seems that if you going after the mil dollar scratchers in NC, you better buy yours in the Western part of the State. The lower tier prizes are up for grabs in other parts of NC. Therefore taking your " ripping off the players" statement speaks volumes in NC when it comes to the scratcher game. In other words- it seems rigging is allowed in NC.
Isn't stealing of Tobacco more profitable these days.?
Thank you American Indian for pointing out this was not his first lottery offense. I wonder if the lottery could ban him from playing. I know with casinos you can get banned, like Las Vegas in particular does with known cheaters. Was told here that folks that ban themselves from the casino--yes you can do that here can get arrested if caught on premises. I doubt they'd do that, but was also informed that if a self banned patron won a jackpot, it gets nixed.
He seems just as smart as the Geniuses who stole scratch off Lottery tickets from their Employer and when confronted they promised that they would pay him back from the stolen winnings. The Employer acted like he wasn't all that mad and was like "Put the promise to pay me back in writing, and sign it." The Geniuses were like,"Wow, he's actually not all that mad and is letting us off easy! " And actually did it and signed it. The Employer turned in the signed note promising to pay him back to the Courts in order to get them Prosecuted. That note was actually used as a confession of theft that was used against them(People who didn't steal wouldn't be promising to pay back anything). They are GENIUSES. The Employer was like,"I don't know why they thought I would let them get away with stealing from me. I can't believe they actually fell for my trick!"