Burglary suspect charged, identified after cashing in stolen lottery tickets
John Casper
TOWN OF BURLINGTON -- John Casper, 27, from the Town of Burlington is facing charges in connection with a burglary that happened at Beachview Grocery on Lakeshore Drive in the Town of Burlington on Feb. 19. Police were able to identify Casper after he cashed in lottery tickets stolen from the store.
Casper is facing one count of burglary of a building or dwelling and one count of criminal damage to property.
According to the criminal complaint, around 1:10 a.m. on Feb. 19 deputies were dispatched to Beachview Grocery for reports of a burglary. Upon arrival, deputies noticed a smashed front window.
During a search of the store, officials observed broken glass, a window frame on the floor and a bundle of firewood nearby. A few cartons of cigarettes were missing and lottery tickets had been taken, according to the complaint. The store owner gave a list of the types of tickets and the bar code information of the tickets to deputies.
Surveillance footage from the store shows two males breaking the front window and entering the store. Both were wearing gloves and used the bundle of wood to force entry into the second inner door -- which leads directly into the store.
While on the scene investigating, the store owner received a call from the Wisconsin Lottery stating that someone cashed in lottery tickets that were stolen from Beachview Grocery. The complaint indicates that someone cashed in approximately $100 worth of stolen lottery tickets.
The tickets were cashed in at Delavan Mobil Mart. Deputies went to the Mobil Mart and retrieved the video footage. John Casper was identified as the person cashing in the lottery tickets, according to the complaint.
A search warrant was conducted at Casper's residence. A backpack was located in the residence which contained several cross word scratch off lottery tickets -- which matched one of the tickets that was reported stolen from Beachview Grocery.