BRADENTON, Fla. — A west-central Florida man is accused of breaking into a mini-mart and stealing scratch-off lottery tickets, along with cigarettes, alcohol and even slices of bologna and cheese, authorities said.
According to Manatee County Sheriff’s Office online booking records, Bryan Patrick Jones, 46, was arrested on Monday. He was charged with burglary to a structure causing damage of $1,000 or more and criminal mischief of $1,000 or more.
Jones is accused of burglarizing Bud’s Mini Mart in Bradenton on Sunday at about 9:55 p.m., the Bradenton Police Department said. According to surveillance footage, Jones entered the store through the ceiling.
That triggered the store’s security system, WWSB reported. He remained inside the store for less than 10 minutes
“Apparently, his shopping list included handfuls of cigarettes, stacks of lottery tickets, alcohol, and, for reasons known only to him, bologna and cheese slices,” Bradenton police wrote in a social media post.
Police said that Det. Jeff Beckley was in the area when the robbery was called in to dispatchers, and he saw Jones nearby, “enthusiastically scratching his freshly acquired (and unpaid-for) lottery tickets while carrying a backpack full of cigarettes,” police said.
It was unclear how many scratch-off winners Jones had, but police commented that the only thing “he didn’t steal was good luck.”
Jones agreed to speak with detectives and was subsequently booked into the Manatee Couny Jail, police said.
After realizing he hadn’t struck it rich, Jones agreed to speak with detectives and was subsequently booked into jail.
“Pro tip: If your burglary ends with you scratching stolen lottery tickets a short distance from the crime scene, your odds of avoiding arrest are significantly worse than your odds of winning the lottery,” police wrote on social media.
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