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Burglar swiping Powerball proceeds
Sunday, February 26, 2006 posted 09:15 PM EST
Eight co-workers in Nebraska were not the only people cashing in on the $365 million Powerball jackpot.
A lotto larcenist broke into at least 13 Northern Kentucky lottery retailers during the run-up to the largest jackpot in
U.S. history.
The thief got to be so persistent that the Kentucky Lottery Corp. warned store clerks not to leave cash overnight.
Fort Wright Detective Michael Knight said they were smash-and-grab burglaries. The thief smashed a window, broke open the
lottery cash drawer and was gone in 10 seconds.
The man stole nearly $3,210. The largest amount was $1,200 from the Sunoco gas station in Elsmere on Feb. 14. The smallest
amount taken was $50 to $60 taken from Bill Finke & Sons in Fort Wright on Jan. 22.
He got nothing at the Sunoco in Fort Mitchell on Feb. 7 after he wasn't able to get the cash drawer open. An alarm scared
him off before he got to the cash on Feb. 7 at an AmeriStop in Fort Wright.
The stores, all targeted since Jan. 5, were located across Campbell and Kenton counties. The stores are some of the top Powerball
retailers in the state because they attract residents from Ohio.
Security camera footage shows a shadowy figure walking through shattered glass at nearly all the shops.
Knight said the videos are of such poor quality he isn't able to give an accurate description of the man.
The thief struck four stores on Feb. 15. He threw the cash drawer - and the lottery computer terminal - on the floor of all
four, but got nothing. Store owners had quit leaving cash in their registers for fear they would be targeted.
Now lottery officials are suggesting store clerks keep the drawers open when they close for the night so no more machines
are damaged.
That seems to have worked, says Knight. There hasn't been another burglary since Feb. 15.
None of the stores contacted for this story wanted to talk about the burglaries.
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