Men Arrested on Charges of Retail Fraud Found With Hundreds of Lotto Tickets in Car

Two Northville Township police officers were dispatched to Meijer at 4:45 p.m. on Jan. 5 after a loss prevention officer called in, reporting that two men had fled the store, according to a police report.

The Meijer loss prevention officer saw the two men select three bottles of liquor, conceal them in their pants and exit the store, the report said. The loss prevention officer stopped them outside of the store, the report said. The man gave the liquor back, but did not return to the store, the report said.

The police were then called and told that the men were driving south on Haggerty in a red Dodge Caliber, the report said. The police caught up with the car on I-275 near the M-14 interchange, the report said. A third person was also in the car, but the Meijer loss prevention officer said he was not involved in the incident, the report said. 

When the officers searched the car, they found a large amount of scratch-off lottery tickets in the center console and a large garbage bag containing approximately 600-700 scratch-off tickets in the trunk, the report said. All of the tickets had been played or scratched off, the report said.

Upon questioning, one of the men told police that he goes into the garbage at party stores to retrieve losing lotto tickets, the report said. He then registers the losing tickets for second chance drawings, the report said.

The two men from New Boston, one age 49 and one age 43, were arrested on charges of retail fraud of the third degree, the report said.