A suspected serial burglar with a penchant for playing the lottery is facing charges in several counties after detectives from the Colusa County Sheriff’s Office, Yolo County Sheriff’s Office, Stockton Police Department, along with investigators from the California Lottery, served a search warrant on his home and found thousands of dollars in stolen scratcher tickets, reportedly taken in a multi-county crime spree.
The Sept. 10 arrest of alleged “career criminal” Seven Vo, 34, of Stockton, followed a multi-agency investigation after Vo was reportedly identified by video surveillance following two commercial burglaries in Dunnigan and Arbuckle on Sept 2, according to Yolo County Sheriff’s Department, who released the information on Friday.
Yolo County Sheriff’s deputies responded to the break-in at the Dunnigan General Store around 12:20 AM and saw the front door of the store had been forced open with a crowbar. The suspect was later identified as a man dressed in sweatpants, a dark colored sweater, and wearing a blue beanie cap with the Denver Broncos logo, officials said. Yolo officials said $12,300 worth of tickets were stolen from the store.
Colusa County Sheriff’s deputies investigated a break-in at the Sinclair gas station about 30 minutes later, in which surveillance footage showed it was the same individual, wearing the same clothing, officials said.
The Sinclair had also been burglarized around midnight on Aug. 25.
“During both incidents, the store was closed for business,” said Colusa County Sheriff’s Lt. Jose Ruiz. “Also during both incidents the front glass door was broken and lottery tickets were stolen from behind the cashier counter.”
Ruiz said a total of $4,000 in lottery tickets were stolen and caused $2,000 in damages to the front door glass.
Stockton Police detectives and the California Lottery investigators determined from surveillance video that Vo cashed the stolen lottery tickets from both Colusa and Yolo County at a liquor store in Stockton, officials said.
Stockton police officers were able to identify Vo from his many run-ins with law enforcement in his hometown, Yolo County officials said, in a press release.
During a search of the residence, detectives reportedly located stolen lotto tickets from both Yolo and Colusa counties. Also located were the clothes identified on the video and one-quarter of a pound of methamphetamine in his vehicle, officials said.
As the investigation continued, Vo also became a suspect in similar crimes in the City of Woodland and in Madera County, officials said.
In addition to the burglary and theft charges, Vo was arrested for possession of methamphetamine for sale.
Vo, a previously convicted felon, relating to the sale of methamphetamine, was initially booked into the San Joaquin County Jail on a PRCS (Post Release Community Supervision) violation, while awaiting charges in Colusa County and other jurisdictions where burglaries occurred.
Vo was scheduled to be arraigned in Yolo County Superior Court on Thursday on suspicion of burglary and vandalism with a special enhancement for prior convictions, but failed to appear as he was moved to Stanislaus County, where he is in custody and charged with additional burglaries in Modesto on Sept. 2, the same day as the Dunnigan and Arbuckle burglaries.
Yolo County Sheriff’s officials said Vo’s arrest was a result of hard work and dedication that is put forth everyday by law enforcement.
“This shows that agencies across the state can come together for investigations to hopefully curb and dismantle career criminals like Vo,” officials stated, in the release. ■