LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A Shepherdsville man is behind bars after police say he broke into a convenience store and stole lottery tickets worth thousands.
Video footage showed about 4:30 a.m. July 15, 2021, a blue VW Bug backed up in front of Jay Food Mart. A man police now identified as 23-year-old Raymond Vanisacker was recorded jumping out of the trunk and tethering a line from the locked front door to the VW Bug.
He stepped aside and when the doors opened, footage showed he waved his hands in the air and then ran inside. He grabbed only Kentucky lottery tickets worth about $4,000, according to an arrest citation.
The Kentucky Lottery quickly deactivated and flagged the tickets, in case he tried to cash them.
"They reimbursed me for all the tickets that were stolen," store owner Savan Patel said.
Similar crimes happened at Patel's store three separate times in 2021.
It cost him thousands in repairs and eventually he had to up security. He purchased and installed a metal door to cover the existing doors when the store is closed.
He hasn't had an issue since, but other businesses have.
"Unfortunately, we have seen this before," Greg Baird, vice president of security operations at Kentucky Lottery, told WHAS11 News.
He noted these types of crimes occur a few times every month across Kentucky, with more around the holidays.
Each time, a team of former law enforcement officers works to track the stolen tickets and flag them for cashiers. And Baird has a message for those thieves.
"If you decide that you're going to commit that crime, rest assured we are going to do everything we can to find you and put you where you belong which is behind bars," Baird said.
In Vanisacker's case, officers said they connected his long curly hair, distinct stickers on the VW bug, and a knife to the video recorded at the scene in order to make an arrest.
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