Two men arrested in liquor store burglaries

Pair is suspected of stealing thousands of Lotto scratchers.

Two men have been arrested in connection with multiple liquor store burglaries aimed at stealing thousands of California Lotto scratchers in Garden Grove, police said Friday.

Daniel Soto, 35, and Emmanuel Quintero, 33, were arrested in connection with two burglaries — one at Hanshaw Liquor last week and the other at Shop & Go on Tuesday. Police are still searching for two others suspects, Juan Carlos Meza and Augustin Gutierrez. The group is suspected of committing two other burglaries in Downey, two in Maywood and one in Whittier, according to California Lottery officials.

Russ Lopez, deputy director of corporate communications at the California Lotto, said thieves think they can get away with stealing Lotto tickets, but most are caught. The Lotto works with local law enforcement agencies as soon as it’s notified that a retailer was burglarized, he said.

Footage of Tuesday’s burglary at the Shop & Go shows that a man walked to the front door, pried it open and stole reams of scratchers tickets while another grabbed rope from inside a van and tied it to the store’s ATM.

The men then hopped back into the van as the driver tried to pull the ATM from the store. He tried three times before the rope snapped. The suspects made off with the Lotto tickets but failed to steal the ATM.

A similar scene unfolded at Hanshaw Liquor, where three men tied a rope between the front doors and the van. The driver pulled the van forward, ripping the doors off and allowing the two other men to break in and steal thousands of Lotto scratchers, police said.

Garden Grove police detectives and L.A. County sheriff’s deputies served a search warrant at a home in Compton on Thursday, where they found Soto. The detectives found a handgun, 1 ounce of methamphetamine, stolen scratchers from several of the burglaries, rope and a stolen cash register, police said.

Quintero was not home because he had been arrested in connection with an auto theft and pursuit arrest the day before, authorities said. Detectives said they will charge Soto and Quintero with multiple counts of burglary and possession of stolen property and narcotics.