Pair suspected of stealing box full of lottery tickets from Whatcom convenience store
Two men are suspected of stealing a box containing approximately $6,000 in lottery tickets from a Whatcom County convenience store Friday evening before leading sheriff’s deputies on a short chase.
The Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office booked 35-year-old Zachery Gene Diluzio from Puyallup and 28-year-old Justin Andres Lugo from Albuquerque, N.M., into Whatcom County Jail early Saturday, May 16, on suspicion of first-degree theft. Diluzio, who also is suspected of attempting to elude police, is being held in lieu of $20,000 bail, while Lugo’s bail was set at $10,000, according to jail records..
Deputies responded at 9:30 p.m. Friday to the Paradise Market on the Mount Baker Highway in Maple Falls for the report of a strong-armed robbery, according to information provided to The Bellingham Herald in an email from Chief Deputy Kevin Hester.
Deputies learned Diluzio and Lugo entered the store and pretended to shop for about 20 minutes, then, while the clerk was distracted, ripped the lottery box off the counter and fled out the door, Hester reported. The clerk, who was not injured, noted the license plate of the light-colored Mazda sedan Diluzio and Lugo left in.
As deputies responded, they passed the Mazda in the 5000 block of South Pass Road, turned around and attempted to stop the car, Hester reported, but it continued without stopping. The chase headed westbound on South Pass Road, before the vehicle turned on North Pass Road and then suddenly stopped.
Deputies found four people in the car and detained all four without incident, Hester wrote. Diluzio reportedly was the driver of the car, and deputies located the stolen lottery tickets in the car.
