Upper Marlboro Man Charged With Stealing $10,000 in Lottery Tickets

A 25-year-old Upper Marlboro man used a request for Black & Mild cigars as cover before grabbing a display full of Maryland Lottery scratch-off tickets and bolting from a Waldorf gas station in late February, according to charging documents. The tickets he allegedly stole would ultimately lead investigators straight back to him.

Timothy Lewis Jr., of Merikern Lane in Upper Marlboro, faces two felony counts of theft after authorities say he stole approximately $10,000 worth of scratch-off tickets from two separate Waldorf locations in the span of four days. Charles County Sheriff's Office deputies responded to the first reported theft on February 26 at the Sunoco station on Crain Highway, where a store employee told officers the suspect entered, asked for the cigars, and grabbed a lottery ticket display the moment the employee turned away. Investigators estimated the value of the tickets taken in that incident at approximately $4,250.

A second theft followed on March 2 at the Foods In grocery store on Mattawoman Drive in Waldorf, where employees told deputies a suspect grabbed lottery tickets from the counter and walked out. Surveillance footage from that incident captured the suspect leaving in a white Toyota RAV4, a vehicle later found in Lewis' possession, according to investigators.

The case broke open through an unlikely investigative tool: the tickets themselves. The Maryland Lottery Commission provided deputies with the serial numbers of the stolen scratch-offs and, critically, chose not to void the plays. That decision proved consequential. The Lottery later contacted the Charles County Sheriff's Office to report that several of the stolen tickets had been redeemed at a convenience store in Prince George's County. Investigators collected those redeemed tickets and processed them for fingerprints. The latent prints matched Lewis.

On March 11, deputies executed a search warrant at Lewis's Merikern Lane residence, where they reported finding additional evidence related to the thefts. Lewis was arrested the same day. Authorities also used surveillance video, fingerprint evidence, and rental vehicle records in building their case against him, according to court documents.

Lewis was released on an unsecured personal bond of $2,000 following his arrest. At his initial appearance, he waived his right to an attorney and was found ineligible for representation by the public defender at that time, according to court records. He is scheduled to appear in Charles County District Court on April 28.

He is charged with two counts of theft involving property valued between $1,500 and $25,000, both felonies under Maryland law. The first incident's employee described the suspect as wearing a black jacket, black pants, gloves, and a ski mask.