Police are looking for a man who was caught on camera twice: first when he stole lottery tickets from a Speedway convenience store and a second time when he went to another convenience store to collect his winnings.
Police only had grainy video and images from the robbery. In each, the suspect's face was either blurry or covered. However, when the African American man went to cash in his stolen lottery tickets, surveillance cameras fully captured his face. The suspect walked into the Speedway convenience store on Western Branch Blvd. on July 29 and suggested to the cashier that he had a gun. He left the store with cash and scratch-off lottery tickets. The same day, a man -- believed to be the robbery suspect -- walked into a Portsmouth convenience store and successfully was able to cash-in one or more of the lottery tickets. Police were able to connect the dots after tracing the scratch-off ticket.
The fact that he was able to cash them in and walk out with his winnings untouched shows that there are significant gaps in how law enforcement tracks stolen lottery tickets. Ultimately, police got what they wanted -- his uncovered face -- but they could have gotten that with a mugshot if they had acted faster.
The man is also believed to be behind a robbery at a nearby 7-Eleven on July 31. During that robbery, the suspect walked away with cash. Police are not releasing how much cash was stolen or "won" during the two robberies.
The suspect was last seen entering a grey or silver sedan. If you know anything about these robberies, police are asking that you call the Chesapeake Crime Hotline, 1-888-LOCK-U-UP.
