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BARSTOW, Ca. – A California Lottery scratcher ticket thief was located and arrested at the Red Roof Inn in the City of Victorville on Thursday.

Barstow Police officials said that on Wednesday, March 18, 2020, an officer was dispatched to Bill’s Liquor Market, located at 1234 West Main Street in response to a burglary alarm. When he arrived he learned that the business was in fact, burglarized. The owner arrived and was able to provide video surveillance to the officer. The video showed the suspect driving up in a dark-colored Jeep. He cut the metal security gate and broke the glass door to enter. He entered the business and went directly to the California Lottery scratcher tickets. He then fled the area in his Jeep.

The theft was believed to be involved in numerous commercial burglaries since February 2020, involving several Barstow locations. During all of the burglaries, Lottery scratchers were stolen.

With the assistance of the California Lottery Law Enforcement Division, numerous locations were identified where the stolen scratcher tickets from burglaries had been redeemed to include over $2,000.00 in winnings from the lottery tickets stolen during the Bill’s Liquor Market burglary.

Video surveillance was collected from the other Barstow burglary locations and where they were redeemed. He was able to identify the dark-colored Jeep being involved with all of the commercial burglaries including some in Victorville, Apple Valley, and Hesperia. The license plate was obtained and the information was shared with the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s office who was investigating the burglaries in their areas. As a result, on March 19, 2020, at 3:37 p.m. Jaime Javier Cardenas, 41, after finding the Jeep at the Red Roof Inn located at 13409 Mariposa Road in Victorville.

“Detective Helms responded to the motel and located multiple stolen lottery tickets and additional evidence linking Cardenas to at least four of the Barstow burglaries,” Barstow Police officials said. It was also learned that Cardenas was out on bail for burglary at the time of the burglaries.

Detective Helms arrested Jaime Cardenas for the burglaries in Barstow and booked him at the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department Jail in Barstow for PC 459 – Burglary and PC 12022.1(b)(1) – Commit a Felony While Out on Bail.

According to court records, Cardenas posted $100,000 bail for a burglary in Victorville on February 27, 2020. His arraignment was scheduled for April 9, 2020. Since 1998, Cardenas has 33 criminal cases in San Bernardino County, 18 of those felony cases.

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