Burglars caught on cam stealing thousands in scratch lottery tickets in Bothell

Police thieves are targeting small stores, bypassing the cash registers and going straight for the scratch lottery tickets. (Photo: screen grab from Bothell surveillance video) Police thieves are targeting small stores, bypassing the cash registers and going straight for the scratch lottery tickets. (Photo: screen grab from Bothell surveillance video) Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Burglars caught on cam stealing thousands in scratch lottery tickets in Bothell 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

Burglars are hoping to cash in with a potential jackpot.

Police say they're targeting small stores, bypassing the cash registers and going straight for the scratch lottery tickets.

Surveillance video captured thieves ransacking the lottery tickets inside Sid's Handy Mart in Bothell around 3 a.m. last Wednesday.

"He did not waste any time," said owner Paul Chung. "He went straight into the scratch ticket areas and pulled out all of them as much as they can."

Chung said the burglars hauled away about $3,000 worth of scratch tickets and cashed in on $750 in winnings.

Just this morning, a burglar swiped $4,000 worth of scratch tickets from another store in Tacoma.

"They got in, jumped over the counter, grabbed all the scratch tickets, got in and out," said Darren Yann. "At first it sounds like a smart idea, what they don't know is that we can cancel them."

But in Bothell, Chung said he tried to cancel his stolen tickets. However, it took several hours.

He said he's not going to be reimbursed for the $3,000 in tickets he lost.

"The scratch ticket system is flawed. All the burden goes on the retailers. None of those tickets are reimbursed for the retailer," said Chung.

Chung said officials told him the ticket heists are happening a lot.

"They said they had two other burglaries happen in exactly the same day, specifically for scratch tickets," said Chung.

KOMO News reached out to the lottery commission on Wednesday night, but has not heard back yet.