From Lottery Jackpot Winners To Thieves? Three Years After Winning Scratch-Off, Couple Arrested For Burglaries

Just three years after winning $500,000 from a lottery scratch-off, a Michigan couple has been arrested and accused of committing a string of burglaries.

Husband and wife duo Mitchell Arnswald, 29, and Stephanie Harvell, 28, have each been charged with counts of second-degree home invasion and possession of burglary tools. As of Monday, neither of the two had posted bail, which is set at $50,000 cash for both.

Speaking with MLive.com, Bay County Sheriff Troy Cunningham said that the two are accused of daytime burglaries in Arenac, Bay, Midland, Saginaw, and Tuscola committed over the past two months. All occurred while residents weren’t home.

The couple’s spree came to an end when a five-county police task force found a Ford SUV at a Hampton Township Meijer matching the description generated for their vehicle. Arnswald and Harvell were in the vehicle at the time, and a search by police found items stolen in the most recent burglary. Authorities later obtained a search warrant for the couple’s home, where they found more items linked to the string of home invasions.

The couple’s earlier story of lottery success was a happy one at first. In January 2016, on the same day that the couple had received an eviction notice, Harvell bought a $5 state lottery scratch-off ticket at a Speedway gas station and proceeded to win $500,000. At the time, Harvell said she planned to use the money to buy a car, a house, and to set up a college fund for her daughters.

Arnswald and Harvell’s story is another in a long line of stories about lottery winners falling on hard times not long after their initial windfall. Reports have shown that heavy spending and poor savings plans can exhaust lottery winnings swiftly, making winners more likely to declare bankruptcy than normal Americans.