A 26-year-old man was arrested in Santa Fe (Granada), accused of stealing 1,430 scratch cards as well as cash when carrying out a burglary on the 14th of October.

The targeted house was the residence of an ONCE Coupon seller who was out at the time.
The thief allegedly scaled the wall to access a first-floor balcony and forced the lock on the sliding door to the bedroom, where he found a small safe that was not anchored to anything; a portable, metal cash box.

After receiving a robbery report from its owner the Guardia Civil monitored the arrival of winning scratch cards at kiosks. Three were detected, all having serial numbers corresponding to those stolen, the first being handed in Sante Fe on the same day as the burglary. The winner was the same person in each case.

The alleged thief firstly didn’t bother to cash them in in a different town and he cashed them in within two days… not very bright!

The ONCE kiosk owner identified the same person as having cashed in a winning ticket so it didn’t take long for the Guardia Civil to arrest the man, who is a known small-time thief.

(News: Santa Fe, Granada, Andalucia)