Sacramento men arrested after lottery tickets stolen in Placer and El Dorado counties
Detectives have arrested two Sacramento men suspected of stealing $25,000 worth of California Lottery Scratchers tickets from a Placer County store last month after several of the stolen tickets were redeemed, sheriff’s officials said.
The suspects, Kawika Guthmann and Edward Caviness, also are suspected of using a stolen pickup to smash into an El Dorado County liquor store to steal trays of lottery tickets there, the Placer County Sheriff’s Office announced Wednesday.
Both men were arrested on suspicion of commercial burglary and criminal conspiracy, sheriff’s officials said. Caviness also faces a charge of committing a felony while free on bail.
The Placer County burglary occurred around 3:30 a.m. April 16 at Woody’s Market and Deli in Loomis. Security camera video captured two suspects burglarizing and ransacking the store.
Sheriff’s officials said the suspects pried open the store’s front door and stole about $25,000 worth of Scratchers and $500 worth of cigarettes.
During the investigation, detectives worked with a California Lottery investigator and found several of the stolen tickets had been redeemed in Rocklin and Sacramento. Sheriff’s officials said Guthmann, 39, and Caviness, 23, were eventually identified as the suspects in the Placer County burglary.
The investigators also learned Caviness redeemed about $650 worth of Scratchers at a Sacramento business, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
On April 29, the detectives found Guthmann staying at a Days Inn Motel in Rocklin. Detectives found Caviness later that day in Sacramento, where he was arrested without incident.
Sheriff’s officials said the detectives found in Guthmann’s motel room numerous items related to the Placer County store burglary. They said the detectives also found lottery tickets stolen from the El Dorado County store.
About 4 a.m. on April 28, suspects used a stolen pickup to smash into a Placerville liquor store before stealing trays of lottery tickets, according to the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office.
Investigators determined the suspects stole a dually Ford pickup from a hotel in the area before they drove the stolen vehicle through the store’s front entrance to get inside, sheriff’s officials said last week. Deputies found the stolen pickup abandoned not far from the Missouri Flat Road liquor store.
