Man charged with stealing lottery scratch-off tickets from suburban Chicago 7-Eleven store
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A Wheaton man has been charged with stealing Illinois Lottery scratch-off tickets from a 7-Eleven in Elmhurst, and prosecutors said they believe he's been stealing lottery tickets from convenience stores for months.
DuPage County prosecutors said 37-year-old Yonas Beyene has been charged with one count each of continuing financial crimes enterprise, burglary, and retail theft.
On Dec. 22, 2024, Elmhurst police responded to a call of a lottery ticket theft at the 7-Eleven convenience store at 155 E. First St. Prosecutors said an investigation determined Beyene came into the store around 11:17 p.m. on Dec. 21, and talked to the clerk, who let him stay inside to get warm and charge his phone while waiting for a ride.
Around 1:45 a.m. on Dec. 22, while the clerk went to the back cooler in the store, Beyene reached around the Illinois Lottery display and removed $730 worth of scratch-off tickets from behind the counter, and ran off as the clerk returned from the cooler.
Prosecutors said further investigation determined Beyene had three outstanding warrants for lottery ticket thefts, and was suspected in several other similar lottery ticket thefts in Addison, Winfield, Carol Stream, Hanover Park, Oakbrook Terrace, and Lombard over the past several months.
On Friday, police tracked Beyene to a motel in Villa Park, where they saw him getting into a taxi. Officers pulled over the taxi and arrested Beyene.
At Beyene's first court appearance on Saturday, a judge granted prosecutors' request to deny him release from jail as he awaits trial. He is due back in court on Jan. 27.
