NJ man accused of stealing over $9K in lottery tickets

A 41-year-old Burlington County man has been busted for stealing $9,300 in New Jersey lottery tickets from a convenience store in Somerset County.

Joseph Holman, of Willingboro, was already in police custody when he was dealt charges related to the smash and grab robbery last month.

On March 14 just after 8 a.m., Franklin Township Police Department received a 911 call reporting the burglary of a convenience store on Easton Avenue.

Overnight, a person had smashed the front door — causing $3,000 in damage — and stolen the massive stash of scratch-off tickets, which were later validated, according to the Somerset County Prosecutor's Office.

Detectives from the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Burglary Unit and the Franklin Township Police Department determined Holman was a suspect in the smash and grab.

On April 4, he was charged with third-degree counts of burglary and theft, as well as fourth-degree criminal mischief and possession of burglary tools, a disorderly person’s offense.

Holman has been at the Middlesex County jail on unrelated charges since March 20.

He would remain in custody, pending a detention hearing in this matter.

A separate lottery ticket theft was reported in the same town, days earlier.

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In that case, Franklin Township police said a “known employee” of a business on Somerset Street was caught on surveillance footage, stealing $2,200 worth of lottery tickets.

Somerset County Prosecutor John McDonald thanked detectives from the Middlesex Borough Police Department and members of the New Jersey Lottery Commission for help in the case involving Holman.

Anyone with information relating to this incident can contact the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Burglary Unit at 908-231-7100 or the Franklin Township Police Department at 732-873-5533 or via the STOPit app.

Information can also be shared through the Somerset County Crime Stoppers’ Tip Line at 1-888-577-TIPS (8477).