Serial robbery crew arrested, accused of stealing California Lottery Scratchers worth $250,000

Detectives recently arrested a crew suspected of robbing 45 convenience stores in Los Angeles County of over $250,000 worth of California Lottery Scratcher tickets during a two-month period.

The crew struck 43 7-Eleven stores plus two Circle K stores, according to Deputy Alejandra Parra, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. The suspects cashed about $91,000 worth of the Scratcher tickets, she said.

Most of the stores were in Los Angeles, she said, adding other stores were in Torrance, Gardena, Lakewood, Maywood, South Gate, Compton, Inglewood, Bell Gardens, Hawthorne and Huntington Park.

Nobody was injured during the robberies, Parra said.

The crew threatened to use force in most of the robberies. One of the suspects pretended to have a gun during one heist while one suspect had a knife at another robbery, she said.

The robberies started in February and ended last week.

Detectives saw the suspects hit a 7-Eleven in the 4100 block of Venice Blvd in Los Angeles on April 11.

The suspects jumped the counter and stole over $3,000 worth of lottery Scratchers, according to a department statement. Detectives arrested three men and a boy and also got back the stolen tickets.

Investigators did not release the men’s names, ages and cities of residences. The teen’s name was not released because he is a minor.

The men were booked on suspicion of robbery. They were arraigned Monday, April 15, at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center, the statement said.

The boy was taken to Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall where he was booked on robbery charges. His next court date with the Probation Department at Compton Courthouse is pending, sheriff’s officials said.

The sheriff’s Major Crimes Bureau detectives from the Burglary Robbery Task Force and the regional Organized Retail Theft Task force investigated the case.