Texas Lottery: Thieving customers steal thousand of Texas Lottery lottery tickets
Police say thieves have stolen Texas lottery tickets at seven different Bedford convenience stores in recent days. A store in Grapevine was also hit.
The thefts started on July 3 followed by two on July 4, one last Friday,and three over the weekend.
Investigators said they are looking for several suspects.
In all the cases, one of the thieves distracted the cashier while another grabbed the tickets.
Police were viewing store surveillance videos from the stores on Tuesday, trying to determine if the thieves are linked to all the cases.
Investigators estimated that at least five people have stolen the tickets.
One particular suspect continues to pop up on convenience store surveillance videos, police say.
The suspect is a white male over six feet tall. He has tattoos that extended from his left shoulder to his elbow.
One video shows him joking with a clerk at the Bedford Easy Mart on Forrest Ridge just before stealing a handful of scratch off lotto tickets.
Surveillance video has also captured a man and woman operating together. An older man was also captured on video stealing lotto tickets from behind the counter.
In other thefts, three men posed as customers, created a distraction and then lifted the tickets, police said.
Quick Track Food Mart No. 2 at 401 E. Pipeline Road has been hit twice in four days, police said. A store official at Quick Track could not be reached Tuesday morning.
Police say the thieves may be able to cash some of the winning tickets in small denominations at stores.
However, if they hit a jackpot, they must take the winning tickets to the Texas Lottery Commission and reveal their identities.