Partners In Crime Caught Trying To Redeem Stolen Lottery Tickets

Thursday, December 18, 2014 at 6:28 AM

By Mike Perleberg

Tyler Woolpert (left) and Ryen Etter are accused in connection with a break-in at a Lawrenceburg convenience store on Friday, December 12. Photo by Dearborn County Sheriff's Dept. (Lawrenceburg, Ind.) - Rule number one when stealing lottery tickets: don’t try to cash in the winners. But doing just that led Lawrenceburg Police directly to two men accused in the Friday, December 12 break-in at the Fastrack BP gas station on Arch Street. The convenience store was closed overnight when an individual chucked a landscaping stone through a glass door. A tire iron was found on the sidewalk outside. Along with a couple cartons of cigarettes, missing from the store were more than 100 Hoosier Lottery scratch-off tickets. The police notified lottery officials that the tickets were stolen and provided the serial numbers. The lottery entered those numbers in their statewide system as being stolen. Later that same morning, two men were reported at the Ameristop station in Greendale attempting to cash in a large number of stolen tickets. The men also attempted to trade in a carton of cigarettes for a different brand. Police were called and arrived at the convenience store to speak with the subjects, Ryen Etter and Tyler Woolpert, both of Greendale. Etter told investigators that he and Woolpert drove from Woolpert’s house in Greendale to an alley just south of the BP station. He allegedly said that Woolpert got out of the vehicle while wearing a ski mask and grabbed a stone from the vehicle’s trunk before walking towards the BP. Etter said he then drove the vehicle to Elm Street, where he met again with Woolpert who ran up to the car and got in with a bag full of lottery tickets and two cartons of cigarettes. They then returned to Woolpert’s home. Investigators obtained a search warrant for Woolpert’s house on Dorman Avenue. There they allegedly found lottery tickets with the serial numbers reported stolen and a hooded jacket matching the description of one worn by the burglar as seen in the store surveillance video. A search of Woolpert’s vehicle revealed shattered glass and a ski mask also recognized from the video. Woolpert, 23, and Etter, 26, face charges of Burglary (Level 5 felony), Theft (Class A misdemeanor), and Criminal Mischief (Class B misdemeanor). They were arrested the same day as the break-in and remain held in jail at the Dearborn County Law Enforcement Center as of Thursday, December 18. They have each been ordered to pay $25,000 surety and $5,000 cash bond. A trial has been set for January 20, 2015.